Happy birthday Chuck!

Today is my very sweet husband's 30th birthday. Despite it being such a milestone age, today will be a pretty low-key day for several reasons:

1) Poor guy has to work. He does not subscribe to my school of thought that you shouldn't have to do anything you don't want to do on your birthday, and for that I am grateful. One of us should be responsible and sensible!

2) I gave him his birthday present a month and a half ago when I bought it (a blue and orange striped tie, for the record). I was just really excited to give it to him, you know?

3) He's not super into being the center of attention and prefers low-key celebrations. Yes, we are proof that extreme opposites attract.

I do want to share a few things that I really admire and appreciate about Chuck. The first thing that comes to mind (referring back to #1) is his work ethic. Last month Chuck hit the five-year mark at the juvenile detention facility where he works, and I'm so, so proud of him. He started out there working a rotating swing shift even before he had finished his degree, and since then has worked his way up to shift supervisor. Chuck is exactly the kind of person who should work with troubled youth - he is able to reach out with compassion and mentor them while simultaneously holding them accountable and appropriately managing their incarceration, which is an extremely important and difficult balance. I'm very grateful for Chuck's job stability - which comes from the nature of the field he works in as well as his competence and skill.

He's also a really superb dad. He's so involved and affectionate and fun with our boys. Chuck and Clyde are best friends - as they remind me on a regular basis :). I'm very thankful that Chuck can be Clyde's go-to Star Wars reference since I'm unable to keep all of the different Jedis straight - especially since the Clone Wars show keeps featuring previously obscure ones. Chuck and Will are also best friends; I have accepted the fact that I will never get Will to giggle as much as Chuck does. I am usually the one who does Will's occupational therapy every Thursday, but one day I had to leave so Chuck was the hands-on parent, and the occupational therapist couldn't stop raving about Chuck afterwards. Apparently he had multiple insightful ideas on helping Will work through the activities, and Gretchen was very impressed.

Chuck and Clyde

Chuck and Will

I could keep going, but considering he'll be embarrassed enough that I even wrote this post I'll quickly conclude with how grateful I am to have him as a husband and partner. He's certainly not perfect, but I am even less so and he puts up with me remarkably well :).

Happy birthday darlin'! I love love love you!