A Good Man

August brought us a broken washing machine, dishwasher and a car needing a new timing belt, engine and clutch. Whee.

September is astronomically expensive as anyone with school-aged children can attest to. And we only have one in school at the moment, but every hurts a little more than the one before. The older they get, the more they cost it seems. Last year, my chip-off-the-old-block Thyra somehow misplaced the most expensive piece of her uniform, and also somehow lost some pieces to her flute. (How anyone loses 1/2 a flute is beyond me.) Now of course we are replacing those items as well as paying for the regular busing, administration, supply, and band fees. I'm starting to feel the pain my mother went through, as I was terrible for holding onto my belongings, a trait which has slowly improved over the years, although I'm embarrassed to tell you how many times I've lost my wallet this year. (But tell I will: three times, two of which I was fortunate to get it back intact.)

Next on the list is a bathroom renovation that we are in dire need of. I think the word "dire" is warranted when your bathtub tiles are being held in by tape.

All of these little events really add up, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit they've kinda got me down, but the point of this post is to say something nice about my husband.

I can't tell you how much peace of mind and happiness I have that my husband puts in amazingly long hours to pay for all these little misfortunes life brings us. By long hours, I mean that he works a regular job and then comes home and does freelance work for often another five hours... not to mention everything he does on the weekends. He works really hard, and for little reward when it seems like he is just working to replace appliances, vehicles and keep our family clothed and fed.

I have always known that an ambitious man was worth his weight in gold, and I have been wonderfully reminded of this of late. I don't mean the kind of ambition that seeks to be a success in terms of financial status or his career (although he has that kind of ambition in spades). I'm talking about the kind of ambition that will do what it takes to take care of business and who thinks about the future in those terms. I'm so very thankful that somehow I have had the good fortune to have married someone who cares about providing for his family and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.

So even though I grumble about not being able to indulge in new shoes as often as I would really like, or outfit my kids in the latest and greatest, or furnish my home the way I desire, I know that the really important things, like staying afloat and keeping our kids happy and healthy will hopefully never be an issue with a husband like mine. That's a pretty big deal I'd say.

There's a motto we've adopted in our family this year, which is this:

We do what we have to do, so we can do what we want to do.

(Thanks Denzel!)

My husband remembers this even when it's Saturday and he'd rather hang out with his kids in the sunshine or play games with his buddies. He remembers this when we're forking over his entire last paycheque to the mechanic for car repairs. He remembers this when he's sacrificing time to work on his latest game idea to do extra bill-paying work instead.

I want to remember it too.