War on My Rack

I'm so proud of my husband. Ben walked a 5K with his co-workers early this morning for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. He actually thought that he had to ask if it was okay if he took a Sunday morning to go and participate! Crazy man! He joined 15 other co-workers and thousands of Denver area residents in the walk/run. He said that there was no civility though because their were protesters out with signs protesting everything from abortion to the war in Iraq while all people were trying to do was raise funds and awareness for a good cause. The most humorous sign that he saw was one that said, "Stop the War on My Rack". Too bad he didn't take his phone or I'd have some pictures to share. He is currently taking a hot shower and is going to recuperate for the day by watching some football. He's is in pretty high spirits now, we'll see how he feels later!

Whoop! Whoop!

I forgot to mention that due to some crazy mixed blessing, Ben was able to be home with us for a very long, luxurious extended weekend. (Which, due to the blizzard, was another blessing in and of itself. I'm glad that I didn't have to worry about him commuting home from work in near white-out conditions, going at a snail's pace and arriving home 5 hours after leaving the office.) On the afternoon of March 25th, Ben got a lovely email from the higher-ups at his job downtown that a co-worker had tested positive for whooping cough. When I first heard, I wasn't all that alarmed since it's a big bank, lots of floors, lots of people. But when Ben came home and told me that he had worked on this lady's computer and noticed that she was "hacking up a storm" and that he suggested that she go home, I knew we were in for some potential trouble. Not to mention that Ben wasn't feeling all that well and was starting to cough--not good signs. He immediately called our D.O. and got an appointment for the following afternoon. Our faithful doctor noticed that Ben was presenting classic whooping cough symptoms and decided to be proactive, not waiting for the test results--which can take up to a week--and started Ben on a antibiotic regime as well as giving him the Dtap vaccine. Of course, being that he was probably contagious, Ben was told not to report to work until Monday. Thankfully, other than a few bouts of coughing and a low-grade fever, Ben has been his normal self and has been able to enjoy having this lazy weekend with the family. It's been a long time since we've had him home for this long of a stretch and it's been really nice. I'm sure that he has appreciated the 8 hours of sleep a night too, a drastic improvement from the *maybe* 3 1/2 hours that he tries to survive on (Did I mention that my husband is my hero?). We spent lots of quality time together, doing nothing specific, just enjoying each other. I can't put it into words, how nice it was. We felt like a normal family for a few, rare & VERY special days.
That all ends tonight as Ben prepares to start his work-week again and we return to the normal routine around here albeit no school for Caitlin due to Spring Break. I am always bittersweet come Sunday nights, but today, I am even more so. I'm going to really miss my husband. Okay, I think I'd better go grab some tissues and cop a hug from the big guy.

**Edited to add: The girls & I are symptom free so far. I'm praying that we're good to go!**

All About Ben

Judy had this test of sorts up on her blog. It's all about your spouse or significant other. Let's see how well I know my husband of almost 8 years...

1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? Family Guy, football, CNN.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Italian or a vinaigrette. Sometimes, he'll surprise me and order a salad as a main course.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Melon--how can you NOT like melon?!

4. You go out to a bar. What does he order? Fat Tire or Coors but, he doesn't drink much.

5. Where did he go to high school? John Glenn High School

6. What size shoe does he wear? 13-14 depending.

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Music & DVDs. He has an impressive collection already.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? The sweet onion chicken teriayki sub from Subway.

9. What would this person eat everyday if he could? Spaghetti, without a doubt.

10. What is his favorite cereal? He doesn't normally eat cereal, but I know he likes corn flakes and corn checks.

11. What would he never wear? Anything other than polo shirts! LoL Seriously though, that's about all I can get him to wear. I need to nominate him for What Not to Wear on TLC.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Football-Steelers or Broncos; Basketball-Pistons; Hockey-Red Wings (it's fun in our house because I'm an Avs fan); Baseball-Yankees.

13. Who will he vote for? Let's just say that we're blue.

14. Who is his best friend? Besides, me?! Geoff & Jason but he's horrible about keeping in touch with them.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Nag, I tend to get on his case if I don't like what he's doing or I need him to so something.

16. How many states has he lived in? Three--New York state, Michigan & Colorado.

17.What is his heritage? Easy--African American. He's a first-gen American-born. His parents both grew up in Ghana.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake? Hmm, this one I'm not sure about. I *think* he'd prefer brownies.

19. Did he play sports in high school? Nope, he was a nerd on the knowledge bowl team. He tried out for football, but didn't make the cut.

20. What could he spend hours doing? Programming on his laptop or playing old school games on our Wii.

21. Does he belong to any men's organizations? Other than fraternal alumni? Not really, he's part of the computer ministry at our church, but that's not just men.

(I just read my answers back to Ben and I'm proud to say that I got them all write, even the cake one! Go me!)