In Praise of Anthony

Anthony's birthday is always the same weekend as Father's Day, giving him a double-whammy week. I always feel like it really kind of short-changes him, though. Anthony is a great person and a great dad, and we are proud to have him around here.

Sometimes I forget how great Anthony is, until I am talking to someone else. Recently I was telling someone how "green" our house is - we have solar panels and wind generators on our roof. They generate a lot of our electricity needs and drastically lower our bill (to almost nothing in the winter). We have a great vegetable garden. It is automatically watered with waste water from our water softener, which has been converted from NaCl to KCl - potassium which is fertilizer to plants. Thanks to drip irrigation, it flows from the softener directly underground to our tomatoes and peppers. We also capture rainwater with 3 barrels at the bottom of our gutters, and use it to water our plants. We have a chicken hutch behind our shed, with 5 laying hens. We own 2 hybrid vehicles, which were purchased after much research and negotiation.

None of these things would ever have happened without Anthony.

He also volunteers in our local community, serving on the Parks board. He also submitted a grant for our city to get funding for a solar/wind project, then was key in getting this project installed.

I know I have a role to play in our family: I am the primary provider of nutritious food, household chaos reducer, and nurturer of children. However, 2 days a week, I don't do this AT ALL. The person who picks up the slack without complaint is Anthony; the days I work, he drops off and picks up the kids, makes dinner, and usually has them bathed and in jammies when I get home. Oh yeah, and a cocktail waiting for me in the freezer, too. All this in addition to getting his own work done.

Anthony makes me feel great. He admires my intellect, my job, and my physique! Seriously, he thinks I am so much smarter than he is. But that is what makes us great partners: he is smart in areas I am dumb, and vice versa. Anthony downplays his mechanical abilities - stuff he says any grease-monkey can do - but I know how valuable his skills are after talking to my single girlfriends or those with inept husbands. They pay A LOT of money for someone with those abilities to make housecalls. Since we've been together, I haven't changed oil or a tire, fixed a computer or a cranky appliance.

I could go on and on but I might make you nauseated. Before I knew Anthony, I didn't know how many places had boilers, how many things you could do on the internet, and I didn't know beans about renewable energy. I did know he would be a great dad, and still he surpassed my expectations. I also didn't know how great it would be to be in a great marriage with such a well-balanced partner. I didn't know how it felt to be adored.

I love you, Anth. Happy Birthday and Father's Day!