When the Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary

When you’re surrounded by extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, it’s easy to fall into the trap of taking them for granted. I am very guilty of this, and I’m going to try to make up for it with this blog post. 

I am married to the most extraordinary man in the world. On twitter you know him as DadForADay, and on this blog you know him simply as the Mister.  When I finish describing him, you all will understand why I feel the way I do. 

Let’s start with the most recent happenings first, since they’re fresh in my mind. The Mister is the kind of guy who takes his entire summer vacation to accompany his tourism wife to the Nebraska State Fair. And he isn’t just my sidekick. He mans the booth for hours on end, answering questions and selling our area of Nebraska, and is the resident UPRR, Bailey Yard and general train expert.  Oh yeah, and he dons the Spike The Engineer mascot suit so that I don’t have to!  And he used his new Ford truck to pull the CVB’s mobile trailer to Lincoln, and drove it in the State Fair parade every day! 

This doesn’t just happen at the State Fair. In the spring, he accompanies me to the travel shows throughout the area doing the same thing. 

If you’ve ever worked any kind of consumer show, you know that it’s not a lot of fun. I love tourism and letting people know about our wonderful part of Nebraska, but even I get tired of smiling, telling people the same thing again and again, and getting asked “well, I used to know someone from North Platte… Do you know so and so?” (the scary part is that we usually do, especially if the Mister is there!).  I do it because it’s my job. He does it because he loves me and wants to spend time with me, and that’s one way to do it. Plus, he is great with people, and does a much better job than I do in social situations. 

And what did I do with my summer vacation? I took a girls-only road trip with my daughter, and the Mister let us take his brand new Ford F-150 pickup while he stayed at home! I’ve probably put more miles on his truck than he has. 

In his spare time, he is the designated driver on our backroad country cruises, he orchestrates all of the logistics for our tanking adventures, he’s the stage manager for our House Concerts, and of course he’s fix-it man extraordinaire – if you want something done, take it to the Mister and you can rest assured that he’ll get it done. 

And speaking of getting it done – he’s the construction manager on our project of restoring my grandparents homesteading cabin in the Nebraska Sandhills. 

Right now he’s up on the roof, doing his own labor to replace the shingles that were totaled in hail storms this summer with a steel roof. And why is he doing his own labor (and using that of our incredible neighbors)? Because the insurance company pays for labor, no matter who does it (as is only right), and we’re going to need the extra money for an incredible ROAD TRIP to Idaho next summer when the #1 son gets married. 

I try to do my best to reciprocate all that he does for me, but I know that I don’t ever come close. So sweetie – this is my tribute to you (even though you never read this – maybe our kids will tell you about it!).  You are extraordinary, and I appreciate it very, very much. 

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee is always on.