Happy Birthday, Babe!
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History August 10 - 16.
Anonymous turns – whatever number in age she wants – today. I’m happy to wish her a very public and respectful happy birthday!
I’m a lucky man. One – I’m a trophy husband; in this, we can all agree. However, I have a prize in a wife whose name has two “n” – the second “n” standing for “In Charge.” If you were there, you know – I Walk the Line.
Anonymous and I have been together for ten of her birthdays. An entire DECADE! Can you believe it? I can. I’m not that great at math, but I’m pretty certain this is like a third of birthdays.
To celebrate, Anonymous has booked dinner for us at a new sushi restaurant. Yes, you read that correctly, my wife booked her own birthday dinner reservation. That’s how we roll in this family. Anonymous is a real go-getter, and I’m a real–go ahead, I’ll take it- er. We are a perfect pair.
Unfortunately, I went and got oral surgery on Friday, which has forced us to reschedule our plans. Instead, Anonymous will take herself to get a manicure and pedicure, while I’ll continue to take amoxicillin and ice cream! What a way to celebrate a birthday with a spouse! Wait till she reads what I wrote in the card!
There is no doubt that Anonymous gets more beautiful every day.
If you have a chance to say happy birthday to Anonymous – drop a line in the comments section.
Okay, let’s take a look at milestone birthdays in Anonymous’s life:
1. August 10, 2008. This birthday would be the first one where Anonymous made DC her permanent home. This would mark an important and smart decision – and Anonymous is super duper smart – because eight years later she would meet me and a few years later – we together make DC our forever home.
2. August 10, 2016. This would be the last birthday she would celebrate “Before Chris,” or BC as we both like to call it, for short. She was probably sad, but later in the day I imagine she experienced a ping of hope – something deep within her knowing that better days would be coming soon – in the form of a handsome, brilliant, and humble man with a great set of hair coming into her life. That wish she made blowing out the candles every year – Please let me find Chris – finally came true.
3. August 10, 2023. This would be the first birthday that Anonymous celebrated as a married woman. What joy she must have felt when she woke up, knowing that her first anniversary was just over a month away and the strapping older man, with a great set of hair, was her husband. BC was a distant memory.
There are so many things that are cool about my wife. One is that Anonymous has a very engaging hobby where she reviews books. She is a much more consistent reader than I am, but we share the same passion for purchasing a ton of books on a regular basis and filling up bookshelves. It’s an unending and expensive habit. But when she reads, she does it with focus, and when she is finished, she reflects and writes up voluminous reviews that really describe the prose and how it made her feel.
In honor of her and as my gift to you all, I present two quick reviews of books that I read during beach week. These modest reviews are almost the exact opposite of the insight Anonymous offers to her audience.
Why We Sleep – by Matthew Walker, PhD
Sleeping is one of the most essential and unfortunately overlooked and underappreciated acts we do as human beings. Walker argues convincingly that healthy, consistent sleep will ensure a lifetime of benefits and positive impacts.
Get more sleep, people.
The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith
Tom Ripley is a psychopathic killer who takes a job trying to find and convince a distant friend to return home to his parents, who had hired him. The friend does not know Ripley is a total psychopath.
The story establishes Ripley’s ability to deceive and an ambition, where he, in turn, kills to ensure a lifestyle of luxury and reputation continues.
Tom Ripley is crazy. But I really enjoyed this book. It makes me want to go to Italy. In fact, since spending time recovering, I have discovered I really enjoy Italian style, especially their boats and watches. On Saturday, I asked Anonymous for $60,000 to buy a Riva boat. Still waiting to hear back.
Okay, I hope you enjoyed these reviews – let me know if there is anything I am missing.
Speaking of missing – if you need to catch up on the vice president rankings – you can find them here. I hope you are enjoying the series as much as I am learning about the meaningless position of vice president of the United States. Sorry for missing last Saturday, but I thought I was dying from the surgery where I had a cyst removed from one of my front teeth.
Thanks again for the prayers and well wishes concerning Aunt Bea. Grateful to you all for your support in so many ways. An important update for the upcoming week:
I’m going to try to finish the VP essay that would have gone up last weekend. But Bea’s funeral is next Monday, and we have quite a bit of family coming in over the weekend, so all of this is to say – there will be no MMN next Monday. Thanks for understanding.
Have a great week, and take care of your teeth.
Happy birthday, babe!
Okay,
Chris
