My surprisingly special day

This whole weekend was supposed to be annoying and generally bad. But my fiancé did not allow it. Thursday night I went to the library at 6 p.m. and left at 4 a.m., getting to bed at 4:30. I'll likely have a similar schedule tomorrow evening. I canceled Friday's class for the sake of sleeping in (despite the fact that I teach at 2 and 3 p.m.) and in order to get more work done. My plan for this weekend was to finish typing up all my notes on Saturday and take Sunday off. I was preparing to be intellectually exhausted and overstimulated. Here's what Robert ensured happened:

On Friday afternoon, we decided to have dinner together because we hadn't seen each other for an extended amount of time since Sunday evening. I reached my study goals by late Friday afternoon and hit a wall. I took a short power nap and woke up calling Robert to make our dinner plans. I literally wasn't fully awake while we were talking--I think what happened was that I was dreaming about needing to make our plans and then I sort of just barely awoke to find myself calling Robert. He came over and said, "I want to treat you to a nice dinner and drinks because I think you deserve it." It really touched me that he wanted to reward my studying with a nice date. We went out for dinner, drinks, and later to Marble Slab for ice cream...in 30-degree weather, lol. But it was delicious! I had trouble getting to sleep on Friday night, even after taking two Unisom, and ended up going through another couple of books waiting for the Unisom to kick in.

On Saturday, I typed up my notes. Robert wanted me to come over and watch the SEC Championship game, but I wasn't sure that I would get finished with everything in time to take the evening off. Sure enough, knowing I had Robert's full support and compassion, I was able to push forward and complete my goal: reading another seven books and typing all the notes for those books. I went over to the duplex (my future home) to watch the game and hang out with Robert and his friends.

This morning, my surprisingly special day, Robert and I went to his parents' house for breakfast. His mom made scrambled eggs, bacon, and Robert helped her make pancakes. His mother and father had already eaten breakfast, but they had Robert and me over anyway--it just made me feel so good. It's moments like that when I feel excited and blessed to join this family. They've welcomed me in so many ways, and continue to...it just means a lot. After breakfast, Robert and I went to my apartment--earlier in the week, he offered to help decorate for Christmas. In a moment of pure exhaustion (nearly falling asleep on the phone with him), I told him Tuesday night that I wasn't going to put up my Christmas decorations this year. His response was so much stronger than I could have ever anticipated. He truly understands how much I love this holiday and how deeply disappointing it would be for me not to decorate in some way. When I made my little announcement, he responded with, "What? No, babe...you can't not decorate!" I explained to him that I couldn't decorate this year...I'm too tired and too stressed and busy that it just wouldn't make sense to decorate. I wouldn't enjoy it. He replied, "I'm going to come over, and we're going to decorate together." That's all it took. That's all I needed. What's funny is that I didn't even know I needed it because I didn't even think to ask him...but once he made his offer to help me decorate, I could feel the weight lifting off my shoulders.

So, we parted with his parents for a little while and went back to my apartment. We were going to get back together with them to pick out the family Christmas tree, but in the meantime we ended up not decorating for Christmas but planning the honeymoon instead. It was so much fun! After we picked out the family tree, Robert and I had lunch, and then went to the bookstore to look for travel guides. We came back to my apartment to actually decorate and do some more honeymoon planning. Robert decorated the entire tree while I set out the nativity set (the new one that I got from my parents for Christmas last year--Willow Tree!!) and my Department 56 houses.

My apartment looks like Christmas now because of my wonderful fiancé. My mind and emotions are at peace because of my wonderful fiancé. I feel relaxed and confident and prepared to take on the next week because of my wonderful fiancé.

I guess the secret is out. Amanda loves Robert. ;)