The Civil Wars album is on the record player. You are doing the dishes and I am sitting at the computer singing along. You walk over to me and I take your hand. I look up at you lovingly while singing the words to Poison & Wine. You’re smiling down at me and touching my cheek. It’s completely gag worthy to anyone on the outside, but in that moment, it was love.

P.S. Thank you for painting the fireplace today. It’s the suckiest thing ever and you did a great job.

It’s been 11 years today since I told you I loved you for the first time. And I absolutely meant it. And I’ve meant it every day since then.

Thanks for always being my lobster. Even when I clearly made some very bad decisions regarding my hair.

Yesterday, right around 5pm I had an email encounter with a client that left me with spiked blood pressure and a strong hankering for a cocktail. On the drive home all I could think about was how I just wanted to get home and see my husband. His arms were the ones I wanted wrapped around me. His smile is the one I wanted to see. I knew that just going home to him would be what I needed.

And there he was with a cure for what ailed me. He listened to me vent and then he put on She’s Out Of My League. We laughed and laughed and I allowed myself to calm down and forget about my workplace woes.

Then we went downtown for the Joebot’s/Yokozuna Grand Opening event. I was given a sample of delicious iced espresso and listened to live music while we waited for a table. Once seated we were given some sake to try. It was my first experience with sake. I wasn’t much of a fan, but I hear there are many kinds and I shouldn’t write it off completely.

Then came my cocktail. My deliciously girly Hello Sumo Hello Kitty cocktail. I’m pretty sure that drinking it out of the ceramic sumo was half the fun.

Now it must be said that I do not like sushi. I never have. People always tell me it’s because I haven’t tried the right kind. Those close to me know that I have tried it on several occasions and am always left gagging and/or choking it down. (Rodger, do you remember that time we tried sushi at Tsunami? And how horrible it was? Yeah.)

Thom loves him some sushi though. He hardly ever gets to indulge because of me. In the same manner that I hardly ever get to enjoy things like lasagna or macaroni and cheese because of his utter disdain for all things cheesy and noodley. Yokozuna provides not only a full entree menu, but a full sushi menu as well. It’s a win win.

Dinner came and Thom had ordered two kinds of rolls.

-The Golden Driller Roll: Tempura shrimp, jalapeno, and cream cheese with spicy mayo.
-The Rising Sun Roll: Coconut shrimp, crab, cream cheese, and avocado rolled in soy paper and served with pineapple rum sauce.

He ate one piece of the Rising Sun Roll and this smile spread across his face. The same kind of smile that spreads across mine when I’ve just taken a bite of the most delicious and decadent dessert. He looked and me and pushed the plate my way.

“You are going to want to try this.”

I dipped my finger in the pineapple rum sauce and knew he was right. I wanted more of that sauce. And that meant I was going to need a vessel to get the sauce from the dish and into my mouth.

The lighting was not so great so I didn’t get a photo of it, but here’s what it looked like.

Image taken from Yokozuna’s flickr stream.

You guys… I didn’t gag! I ate the entire bite and enjoyed it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. It was such a triumphant moment for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever find another kind of sushi that agrees with me, but at least I’ll always have the Rising Sun Roll.

At the end of the meal my fortune cookie said to me: You have a secret admirer. Lock your doors. (gotta love humorous fortune cookies)

We saw lots of friends and familiar faces last night and the entire drive home I was just happy. Happy that Thom and I managed to turn what could have been a crappy night into a really enjoyable evening.

Happy that I have a husband who knows me. Who knows how to make me forget about the little things in life that bring me down.

There’s a song out there on the radio slowly climbing the (Christian radio) charts.

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say it’s true
God gave me you

On my own I’m only, half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together, and what love has tethered
I could baby never undo

(watch the entire video here)

I may get angry at you for not cleaning out the garage. Or for never putting the toilet paper roll on the holder. These are those small things that people tell you not to sweat. And those people are right. Because at the end of the day you are my husband. You are the man whom I have chosen to spend my life with. And you are the one whose arms I run to. Thank you for being my lobster.