Lovely Monday: Monica and Troy

The Week of Love proved inadequate in showcasing my family, their locked lips, and tales from the crypt. So I thought I would throw in a few Lovely Mondays to make up the difference. Having just returned from a weekend at my sister's house, I thought I would share the image of sissy with her husband of sixteen years.


This is the only picture that actually has no kiss--and yet I think it still qualifies for the kissing wall. Tell me if you think I'm right.

I love the false sense of defeat in the sissy's arms. She is obviously being solicited, and isn't quite reconciling the affection, but isn't fighting it either. I can just imagine the dialogue surrounding this captured moment:

Troy: Weeeell, I'm just about to go kill myself a 20-point buck. Can I have a snuggle before I go?

Monica: No.

Troy: Before the hunt, I need to defrost my high-octane nitrous exploder snowmobile from my pa's shop. How 'bout I take one of the kids with me? Would that help?

Monica: Um, you mean like the last time you nearly missed an avalanche and my nine-year old watched some guy get unsuccessfully resusitated and then put in an ambulance? Sounds great sweetie! [insert sarcasm here]

Troy: Ooooh.....you. Come here! I need a snuggle.

Monica: No. I'm mad at you. No pancakes for breakfast for 2 days.

Troy: [gasp] Come on! You know I get the jitters if I have to eat cereal.

Monica: Please stay home today.

Troy: You've already vacuumed three-thousand-square-feet of carpet, fixed kabobs for the kids lunch, knitted 12 hats for orphans, cleaned the bathrooms, and mastered Debussey on the piano. What else have you got going on today?

[begins to invade personal space and places arms around Monica's waist].

Monica: Not much I guess. Just fix dinner for the widow across the street, do three loads of laundry, and then fix 200 servings of berry-topped brownies for the church ladies tonight.

Troy: [leans in closer and begins flirting with his eyebrows].

Monica: Ooooooh-kay. You had me at 20-point buck.

Monica and Troy. What makes their love unique? He works hard and plays hard. Soon after their marriage, my family was trying to understand the psychology behind an Idaho ruffian during hunting season.

{For instance: What makes one purchase a crappy truck, overpriced, with too many miles, and without telling your spouse? That's easy! An Idaho Hunter on the last day of the hunt who has been driving a sedan for the past year.}

But seriously folks, he's forgiven. Why? First of all, he learned his stupid lesson with the truck. Secondly, he can cook a mean Sunday roast, does dishes, plays with the kids, and always...always...is ready to give a snuggle to my amazing sister. And his success as a small-business owner comes from a beautiful tango between with his insurmountable work ethic along with the wizardly-number-crunching skills of Monica. She was working her way up the corporate ladder as a CPA, and leaving co-workers speechless at the speed in which she could perform, audits, tax returns, or memorize complete rolodexes. But she left that life and trudged through 5 difficult pregnancies, and began devoting her business smarts into Troy's electrician business. She stands her ground with her own hobbies to keep her active and smart: like the 2 tennis matches she won over the weekend. The same tennis matches which made for exciting cheerleading and applauding by her number one fan: Troy.