I’ve talked before about how much my husband does in the kitchen–as my sous-chef/support staff, as a baker of the same chocolate chip recipe on a regular basis, as a dish-washer, encourager, and as . . .

. . . well, a derriere to spank. When I get the urge. Which is frequently.

And it’s not just any derriere, either. It’s a mighty fine piece of God’s workmanship.

There’s just something about the husband + kitchen combination that encourages my hand to . . . well, you get the gist.

Don’t be shocked–it’s nothing you haven’t heard before on this blog.

Anyway, today is my lovebug’s 29th birthday. Birthday surprises are hiding in my pants drawer, to be revealed tonight. A dinner date will be happening soon. And as for the cake at hand . . . well, he still claims that I owe him 2 lemon cakes. He cannot be argued down from this iron-clad stance. He has dug his heels in and will not budge until 2 lemon cakes have been produced (by me) and consumed (by him).

We’ll just have to see what happens.

I guess if this is the biggest controversy in our marriage–how many lemon cakes I owe him at a given point in time–you could say that I really have nothing to complain about. That I have, in fact, a lot to be thankful for in this man who goes out of his way to love me and serve me, makes me coffee every morning, faithfully deals with any household issue I deem “gross” (trash; bugs; kitchen floor; sink drain; bathtub drain, etc. etc.), gives me back skritchlies every single evening, reads me Harry Potter until I fall asleep at night, listens patiently and pours me a glass of wine when I’m stressed, sends me little emails during the day to tell me he’s thinking about me or praying for me–and the list could go on and on. He’s smart, disciplined, faithful (to me, to God, to his friends, commitments, health–it’s a huge part of who he is), a hard worker, a generous giver, funny (make that hilarious), sensitive, well-read, passionate, always striving to better himself–the whole package. Designed by God before the beginning of time–and I say: Good job God! Thanks for letting me have him for our time here on earth.

And oh yeah–he has a great, smackable butt.

But I think we already covered that.

Happy birthday, baby! Welcome to the last year of your 20’s (where I’ll be joining you in a couple months)–it’s been a great decade of togetherness and love and the adventure of finding out who we are, and I’m sure this last year will be no different. I love you!