Fire, Fire!

On Thursday, Ammon turned 40 years old.  Can you believe it?  Good thing for me, I LOVE old men!  I have to pay myself a compliment.  This year, I pulled it off.  I was able to keep a secret. Usually, I end up giving Ammon all of his presents the night before his birthday because I get so excited and he knows I fold easily.  

During the day on Thursday, Ammon's email and voicemail were jammed with birthday wishes and he got lots of deliveries at the office. Senya and I took him to lunch at one of his favorite places downtown Cafe Pinot.   When he got home from work, Ava and I had wrapped 40 gifts. Most of the gifts were silly little things like coupons for sleep-ins to 9 a.m. and "no-nag" cards that he can use when I start in on my rants about our tempermental washing machine and the unfinished guest bathroom.   I have already warned him that the cards are a one-time use only, and a trip to Kinkos to replicate the cards will not fly.  Our neighbor Colin has offered big-bucks to buy the gift cards from Ammon :)) 

On Friday, I had planned a little surprise party.  Even Nate was scheduled to fly in from Seattle.  On Friday morning, Ammon surprised me by telling me that he had decided to stay home from work.  I had SOOOO much to do including coordinating the  babysitter for all of the kids, picking up Jessica, going to the restaurant to make last minute arrangements, getting something to wear, etc. etc.  Instead, we tooled around the house all morning.  Finally, at 2 p.m., Ammon decided to workout.  You have never seen such a tornado.  Amazingly, Nate's flight was on time, traffic to and from Valencia was light, the babysitter was on time, and everyone got to the right place.  Ammon was VERY surprised and I think he was pretty touched.  

Here are just a few reasons why I love Ammon.  

- He is calm, cool, and collected ... 100% of the time.  

- He has a memory like trap.  He can recall events, dates, abstract trivia, words to songs, historical facts, etc.  But, he forgets many of the stupid things I say and do - gotta love him!

- Nothing is out of the question for Ammon.  He will try anything.  

- Before meeting him, I would casually think about doing certain things, but never actually consider doing them.  Now, for example, if I say while watching Survivor, "I would love to be on that show," he immediately says, "you should do it" and starts looking on line to figure out how to make it happen.  He is completely supportive of everything I do.

- He loves my family and friends as much as I do.

- He keeps getting on horses even though he has a difficult time staying on them because he doesn't want my family to think he is a city slicker.  

- He LOVES being a dad.  Anyone who is around him for 2 minutes will attest to this.  

- He is the master negotiator ... explains why he is such a good lawyer.

- He is a hard worker, but loves to have a good time.  

I LOVE YOU, A!