15 and a Half and Counting

My friend Laura A. made a post like this in honor of celebrating her fifteenth anniversary with her husband. I liked the list of questions, so I decided to do the same thing, only this time, I figured I'd do it now and not wait for the 5th of December to say it :).

What is your wife’s name? Christina

How long have you been together? We met in September of 1990, our first date was shortly thereafter (Mandarin Restaurant in Millbrae, CA and a walk along the Hotel Zone in Burlingame). We got engaged Halloween night 1991. We got married on December 5th, 1992.

How long did you date? Well, that's an interesting story... we actually "dated" in a non-exclusive format for six months before we both decided "OK< this is dumb, we both know we like each other more than anyone else out there, so let's do something with this".

Who eats more? Me, hands down (LOL!).

Who said “I love you” first? That would be me... of course, I risked it all by saying it, seeing I was under strict instructions never to say those three words, or I'd be dumped like a hot potato (and I am so not kidding about that, those were the exact words Christina told me on our first date. It took me three months to decide I was willing to chance it... and I made sure that she'd have to think it through if she wanted to break it off, so I did it 30 miles from her house :) ).

Who is taller? Me, she's 5'4", I'm 6'2".

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. Analytical stuff, I tend to do better, but Christina has way more common sense and practical knowledge in many areas than I'd ever hope to have.

Who is more sensitive? Again, depends on the circumstance. In most arena's Christina is, but I have my areas, too.

Who does the laundry? Mostly Christina, but we both get involved when things get behind.

Who does the dishes? The dishwasher does :).

Who sleeps on the right? Right as in the foot or the head of the bed, and which direction. I sleep closest to the window, Christina sleeps closest to the door.

Who pays the bills? We have a two way system. I'm the sol wage earner, so we do as much of this together as possible. Christina handles the day to day operations, and handles short term savings and emergency funds. My job is longer term investing and retirement savings, but we both review a budget together and make an action plan based on shared input.

Who mows the lawn? Me, but I'll gladly pay any of our three kids to do it for me :).

Who cooks dinner? Weekdays, Christina. On weekends, we split the meals.

Who drives when you are together? I almost always drive (LOL!).

Who is more stubborn? Depends on the situation. We both have our moments, but I love the fact that we both tend to hate getting into "you're wrong and I'm right" situations, and we both do our best to look to each other for alternate opinions and possible solutions we hadn't previously thought of.

Who kissed whom first? She kissed me, it was the end of me picking her up and carrying her over my shoulder for about a hundred yards (you had to be there to understand the context of this LOL!).

Who asked who out first? I asked her, after an almost disastrous follow-up phone call from when we first met in a night club a couple of nights previous. Long story short, I had some preconceived notions about what kind of girl Christina was... boy, was I off the mark (LOL!).

Who proposed? Me, in a semi-creative way... Halloween evening of 1991 was the first Halloween in many years that I wasn't booked to play a gig with my band, so Christina and I went down to Hillsdale Mall to see the kids trick or treating (yes, around San Mateo at the time, that's where kids went to Trick or Treat). Somehow the topic got to marriage, and I asked her, hypothetically, what kind of wedding ring she would want, and lets, for fun, go ring shopping. We did, and we found one that she just loved. After I made sure it was the one she'd really want, I told the lady behind the counter that we'd take it. As we were waiting to finish the purchase, I watched Christina go from smiling to looking at me quizzically, to almost hyperventilating, to her finally asking "ummm, what are you doing?!" I deliberately stayed quiet the whole time, and even whistled a few times. I refused to answer her :). When we finished buying the ring, I took it and put it in my pocket. we went to our favorite Sushi restaurant, and when I finally saw that she couldn't stand it any longer, I got down on one knee, proposed in front of all these witnesses and a lot of dead fish, and I promised that I couldn't guarantee a life of ease or comfort all the time, but I'd do my best to take care of her, and I pledged that it would never be boring. She agreed, we kissed, the whole restaurant clapped :).

Who has more siblings? I'm the oldest of four (another brother and two sisters). Christina's an only child.

She's been there with me through so much of my life. We literally "grew up" and became adults together, and we've had a great ride these past fifteen and a half years. I just wanted to pick a day other than a birthday or an anniversary to tell her that :).

Lovies,
--me