True Love Tuesday - An Anniversary of Sorts

APolaroid photo of us on
Monday, March 27, 1995
Breaking the news at my mom's house.

Today my husband and I celebrate the anniversary of our engagement, 17 years ago.  Actually, the anniversary was this entire weekend, which is kind of a long story.  You see, it kind of took me a while to give him an answer.  Like, um, more than 24 hours. 

Before hubby and I married, we had what could be referred to as a four year, on-again, off-again period of dating, friendship and mutual hatred.  Mostly the mutual hatred part.  Yet neither could get the other out of our brains, and kept going back for more.  Some people wondered why, including me, on occasion.  But there was something good there, we were just too stupid to admit it early on.  You know how that can be. 

That last six months or so before hubby proposed, we had grown and settled, and become very good friends, but just friends.  On March 25, 1995, before leaving for dinner at The Milton Inn, he gave me a dozen red roses.  Imagine my surprise!  He said I deserved it, having just survived yet another difficult period at work that included lots of bizarre events and weekly rounds of lay-offs.     

We had a lovely dinner.  After our meal, he popped the question, with little fanfare.  No ring in the dessert, or anything like that.  That's not his style, for which I am grateful.  But surprised does not begin to explain the depth of my, um, shock.  Yes, shock. 

You see, I was way beyond thinking he would ever propose.  At more than one point in our relationship(s) over the years I had hoped for it.  But when it didn't happen, I eventually accepted that fact and decided I liked having him as a very good friend.  We were really good at being friends, even traveling together at times. 

Back to the story.  So, he proposed Saturday night.  The rest of Saturday night goes by.  Sunday goes by.  All day.  I hummed, I hawwed (whatever that means).  I guess I was thinking it over, but I do not remember that day at all.  Hubby tells me, again because I do not remember, that I said "Yes" Monday morning, when I saw him on the bus.  We lived in the same neighborhood and rode the same bus into downtown Baltimore every morning.  In fact, that's where I first saw him, on the bus. 

Earlier this weekend, I asked him what he did on that Sunday.  He smiled and said, "I don't know, probably went to work."  Science Geek.  When I asked what he was thinking while waiting for my reply, he smiled again and said, "I wasn't sure, but I was hoping for a positive outcome."  Science Geek Language. 

Once I said yes, I don't know why he went through with it.  The fact that it took me 24+ hours to get back to him should have told him something about my super-cautious, tendency to over-think things personality.  But he did, and I am grateful every day that we both did!

Hits of My Lifetime! - SNGF

Randy Seaver has a musical idea for his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  He asks: 



Remember these 8-track players?
I had one just like this, even the same color!
Image Courtesy of Google Images.



1) What was the #1 song on the day you were born? Or on your birthday when you were 18? Or when you married? Or some other important date in your life.

2) Go to http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/birthdayno1 and enter the date and select from UK, US or Australia record lists. Note: the first date available is 1 January 1946.

Alternatively, go to http://www.joshhosler.biz/ and enter the month and date and see a list of songs for each year since 1940.

I used the second site, http://www.joshhosler.biz/, and got these fun results!



My birth day, October 26, 1957:
Jailhouse Rock/Treat Me Nice, by Elvis Presley

18th birthday, 1975 -- Island Girl by Elton John
Why, I was listening to this just the other day!  Have always been a huge fan of EJ.  Have every album, been to several of his concerts.  I remember this day so well!  I had graduated high school in June and was working as a legal secretary.  Every day, I carpooled downtown with my high school friend.  After work, when she swung by to drop me off, she pulled in and parked.  I was a bit confused but thought not too much of it.  We got in the house and my mom had planned a small party of some of my high school girlfriends.  It was such a surprise and so much fun!


1982, the year I turned 25 and moved into my first apartment!
Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work


March 13, 1990
Escapade, by Janet Jackson -- All I can say is "HUH?"  Don't know this song.
This was a sad day in my life; my father died on this date.  Obviously, an event like this changes a person.  Did not know my husband at the time, we met about a year later.  Not long after we met, hubby (then just a friend, not a boyfriend), once told me that I view the world two ways: "before my father died" and "after my father died." I don't recall my exact reply, but it must have been fierce, because he's never said that again in almost 17 years of marriage! 


September 1991; this was the month/year I bought my first home, a co-op apartment. 
Song is Good Vibrations by Marky Mark &the Funky Bunch with Loleatta.  But I have to say, my older siblings played lots of music, and to me, Good Vibrations is The Beach Boys!


My birthday one month later..."Emotions" by Mariah Carey.  Huh???  Is this that song that the Bee Gees recorded?  I have never been a fan of Mariah Carey's type of "music."  If it's not the Bee Gees song, I can't recall this song at all!!!


June 2, 1995--married my love! 
Song is Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? by Bryan Adams
That title sounds like it would be a nice #1 song for a wedding day, don't you think?  Even though I don't know the song!  Our first (and only) wedding dance was to "As Time Goes By" by, yes, Jimmy Durante.


Jenny turns The Big 5-0, October 26, 2007
The song is Crank That (Soulja Boy), by Soulja Boy Tell'em.  Talk about HUH????

I always knew I was out of touch with the music world lately, but I didn't realize just how much!  Obviously, somewhere along the line, I simply stopped listening to music on the radio. 

As for the Number One song on my birthday, the last song and artist I recognize, with just one exception, is 1988's "Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins.  The exception is the Elton John's 1997 hit "Something About the Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997," his Marilyn Monroe tribute, rewritten for the late Princess Diana.

Oh, I still listen to a lot of music, but it's music of my choice.  My tastes are kind of stuck in the 1970s (my high school years) and the 1980s (first tastes of freedom).  I find that I basically stick with those artists and have followed their careers.  People like Paul Simon, James Taylor, Elton John.  And my parents loved show tunes, so all five of the kids do, too!  Then of course, there's Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and all those guys; I play them every weekend, my poor hubby! 

Well, thanks, Randy, this was a lot of fun!  If I had more time, I'd go to the basement and see how many of those number one songs are on all the albums collecting dust down there!

Penblwyd Hapus, Heilig!

Wishing a wonderful birthday to a wonderful man, my father-in-law Heilig.  Today Heilig turns 81. 

Last year the family planned to travel to Egypt to celebrate his milestone birthday.  Instead, "Arab Spring" interrupted our travel plans, and we met in Belgium, where we enjoyed a lovely week together.

Because of the change in travel plans, my sister-in-law was able to bring a fantastic birthday cake for the event.  Don't worry, it was a fruit cake, so it held up well in the travel.  A good fruit cake can even benefit by a few extra days before serving. 

Here are pictures of his 80th birthday very special cake. 

The cake includes a dragon (symbol of Wales),
a swan (for his favorite football team, The Swans),
a radio, maps and books (some of his hobbies),
little dolphins swimming in the bay,
and sheep (after all, this is Wales!).
The cake is lined surrounded by delicate flowers representing
his many years as a professor of horticulture.

The cake also includes a sign pointing to towns that
have significance to periods in his life.

Close-up of dragon, dolphins, books, radio
and swan.

Happy Birthday, Heilig!