My Dark Knight turns 40!

 

There  he is...

Birthday boy, family man, superhero husband and a youthful rocker all rolled into one wonderful package that turned 40 today.  August 19th 1968, his poor mother gave birth to him in an army hospital with very little tender care.  Her nurses told her to "quit screaming cuz it was just gonna get a lot worse!" and the doctor started cutting into her for a c-section before she was numb causing her some serious pain.  His entrance into this world was pretty traumatic, at least for his beautiful mother and he's been tearing it up ever since.  Wherever he goes... he makes a lasting impression.  I know.  He changed the direction of my world 17 years ago!

That black and white photo is his band, Spoken Image.  They played for several years together post high school. They were pretty successful too, winning battle of the band contests and playing regular gigs at nice restaurants and Disneyland and such.  Mark even has a demo tape they once made with 2 of their songs on it.  Wish I could have seen them play.  Mark was the Bass player.  The guy next to him is his best friend Kevin.  He was the drummer.  Their sound guy, Tim, who's not pictured has a successful business doing sound for movie trailers in Hollywood.  After we got married Mark and Kevin had a falling out and lost touch.  He started looking for Mark about a couple of years ago when Mark missed his class reunion.  Kevin got in touch with Tim and then found Mark last November online through a Boy scout website of all things .  They planned a reunion weekend in Palm Springs in March.  They visited all their old stomping grounds and had a great time getting reaquainted.  He picked up a bass and amp about 2 years ago and plays around sometimes.  We like it when he does.  Hes' still got it.  He also has a native american flute I got for him this past christmas.  (He played clarinet in elementary school/jr. high) He played me Happy Birthday on it 4 days after christmas! I was impressed.  He likes to play it at night when he wants to relax before bed.  I love to just lay in bed and listen to it.  I love his musical talent.

The birthday cake picture is from last year.  He's been dieting for the last month so I didn't make a cake or buy him any special treats this year for his birthday.  He's lost 20 lbs and I'm so proud of him. He's been walking 2 miles 5-6 mornings a week and trying to also get in a 2 mile walk every evening.  He probably makes the night walk 4 nights a week.  That's definitely harder to do.  He's really changed his eating habits too.  He tries to eat small meals under 30% fat every 2 hours and doesn't eat after 8.  He has been so dedicated.  His biggest splurge in a month was on Sunday when his mom was visiting she bought him a birthday cake.  Bakery white cake with lots of frosting  is a weakness for him.  He had 3 pieces.  He felt sick afterwards and wished he's stopped with one.  He's been beating himself up every day since.  Other than that, he feels good, he looks good and I wish I had his determination.  I have been walking with him but I have not changed my eating at all.  I have lost 2 lbs....   My own fault though, I'm not committed yet like he is.  The exercise feels good but I miss more nights than he does.  It's been nice to walk together in the mornings.  

As for his superhero status: He really is my Knight in shining armor.  Lots of you know already but he did the most amazing thing for me last month.  We had a family reunion in southern Utah that Carly planned for one of her young women value projects.  It was for my "Lowe" side of the family ( I have lots of pictures and ideas to post on that later) and held at my Mom & Dad's cabin.  It ended on Sunday July 27th.   We had the bags packed and in the car.  We had the kids in the car.  I was the last one out still giving hugs and kisses and saying good bye.  This is not unusual.  When Mark is ready to go, he's ready to go and gets a bit impatient.  He started the car.  I announced to my parents and sisters "I think that's a hint".  Before I finished my sentence he was leaving!!! The car was backing down the lane.  I remember thinking that was a bit uncalled for.  I wasn't taking that long.  Then I noticed the big grins suddenly on the faces of my mom, my dad, my sisters.  I don't even remember who said it but someone announced "you're not going home.  You're going to Las Vegas with Maury, Mom & Christy.  You're seeing Phantom of the Opera tomorrow night and your flying home Tuesday."  They handed me a wad of cash he'd left for me and said they had instructions to take me shopping for a new outfit and they were not allowed to take me to Wal-Mart.  We'd be going to dinner and breakfast and there was enough to cover it all.  wow!  I was so shocked.  I couldn't comprehend what they were saying at first.  As it sunk in I began to cry for joy, for being loved, for the sheer overwhelming surprise of it all.  Mark ended up having to drive back to the cabin after heading down the road about half a mile.  The kids were freaking out.  He tried to explain and Carly got it but the other kids were bawling and saying "you can't leave mommy!"  He brought them back so we could have a proper goodbye and kisses.  We said Good bye again.  I cried again.  It was beautiful.  

Maury lives in Las Vegas so we headed to her apartment.  My Mom & Christy came too on their way back to California.  We had a fabulous time.  The next morning Maury  took us to "The original Pancake house".  I got coconut pancakes with strawberries and strawberry syrup. Yummy!  We went shopping and Maury is SO fun to shop with.  She has a great sense of style and makes you feel so confident and beautiful.  They took me to "Ulta", a make-up store and I got "my face done" in bare minerals make-up.  It's really cool stuff by the way. I'm totally saving up for it.  Later we went to a restaurant called "firefly" that is a tapas bar where you order rounds of small appetizer type food.  It was so fun. I loved it.  The play was beautiful.  We had great seats.  We went to the Bellagio after and watched the fountains for an hour.  Then we went inside and looked at their lobby floral displays  that are out of this world.  Our last stop was their sweet shop with these amazing little desserts that look like works of art.  Some even had gold leaf on top.  They wanted me to pick one and I couldn't.  I tend to have trouble making decisions but I was in rare form.  They finally chose 3 and we shared them all, trying a little of each.  They were fabulous but I had a hard time taking a bite of them.  They were too beautiful to eat.  It was quite the night for this little homebody.  I still get teary when I think about what he did.  He planned it way back when American Idol had their showtunes week.  When several of the contestants sang Phantom songs I mentioned how I'd love to see the play in Vegas sometime as I'd heard they'd built a theatre just for it and it was amazing.  He called Maury the next day and started planning.  It's the kind of thing I secretly always wished for, for him to notice some small thing I'd said and follow up on it.  

Last but not least, he is a great Dad and takes good care of our family.  We are all lucky to have him.  He has taken care of the kids more than usual lately with my little Vegas trip and then He spent a week with the 3 youngest while I was at girls camp a week later with Carly & Rachel.  They had a great time and the house was clean as a whistle when I got home from camp.  The 3 kids had been to Chucky Cheese & MdDonalds.  They were loving life.  In fact Jacob suggested just today that I should go to girl's camp again next year and remember when we had our bad day a couple weeks ago? One of the reasons they said I was a good mom was that I let them spend time with Daddy.  

We love you Markie Mark. You're the Best!