Happy birthday, Eric!

Thanksgiving. That's my brother Tim giving him the bunny ears.

My one true love turned 44 yesterday. He celebrated by cleaning the garage, making the girls and I breakfast, and watching a lot of football. He picked oatmeal cake for dessert--the birthday boy always gets to choose--and tacos for dinner. Which ended up a little different than he'd planned because I accidentally defrosted pork chops instead of ground pork. Oops. We had fajitas. Sometimes you just gotta roll with what you've been given.

Eric and I don't exchange gifts. We stopped doing that after about two years into our relationship. You'd think that would point to our minimalistic tendencies before we were minimalists, but mostly it's that he's very particular about what he buys, so it's easier to just make a nice dinner and let him worry about his own gift, if he feels a need. :)

But the girls made him very thoughtful cards, and Johanna added a plate of her special pretzels-peanut butter-chocolate chip confections, which were generally well received by everyone.

Eric is my heart for so many reasons. He's kind, he's hilarious, and the sound of his giggle is my favorite thing. He's a great father, he loves me even though I am a brat, and he never leaves projects unfinished. He lets me be myself. He's a very easy person to live with.

And that makes him sound perfect, I know this, and he's not, but you know what? He kind of is.

Happy birthday, love.