ain't love grand

Two weeks ago I celebrated 14 years of marital bliss with a boy that came to my 15th birthday. Alan says he knew I was "the one" when he first laid eyes on me. I think he made that up because he knows girls like romantic stuff like love at first sight. (although to his credit, I was a super cute 14 year old, for the record). I say that I knew he was "the one" after we had been married about 7 years. These things take time.
Alan has always been smart, logical, level headed, stable and even. I have always been sassy, silly, naughty, crazy and inappropriate. Over the years some things have changed; the way we look, what we eat, having a bunch of kids, level of debt (you know...everything) but the above character traits have stayed pretty much the same after all of this time. We were basically opposites when we met, and now after living over half of my life with him, I choose to call it "complementary". (It sounds more positive I think).
Sometimes when he does things the absolute wrong opposite way than I would have done them, I sit there, confused, and try to figure out why anyone would do such a thing. A perfect example is making the bed. Every night he strips all of the blankets off until just the bottom fitted sheet is left, and pulls up each layer nice and tight until it is just so. Then the pillow are arranged and he can get in. When I am feeling up to the challenge, I hurry to brush my teeth first and jump into bed so I can yank the covers up all wonky (how I like them), and when he tries to strip the bed down, a tug of war ensues. (With me ALWAYS victorious (thank you very much), after living with me for so long, Alan has learned that you just can't fight with crazy. I told you he was smart.)
It would almost seem to an outsider that I do these things just to be contrary, but honestly, it is just my way, I don't try to label it. I think when we were newlyweds we had to work so hard at being married, that we were a little distracted and overwhelmed, and now that is just the way we are.
We have changed each other a little bit though, over the years. Alan isn't quite as serious as he used to be, and I try to be less insane. (I said try) We don't question each other as much as we used to, we trust more, and share responsibility. Alan tries his best to understand me, and is very kind and tolerant of me and my ways, and tries to support me whenever he can, even when it puts him outside of his normal comfort zone.
He smiles and sighs when I invite strangers over for parties (internet friends are barely strangers), he rolls his eyes when I get 14 boxes of fiber cereal because it is a good price, and he barely even breaks stride when I say things like "I bought a red robot vacuum today." (even though he has never heard of a robot vacuum and they sound really expensive)
When we were out for our anniversary, I realized just how much he has changed over the years. He had taken me to Lush (my very favorite store for smelly stuff) to get some deodorant, a shampoo bar and some dusting powder, and was patiently standing by whilst I made best friends with the cutie with the facial piercings behind the counter. I told Cutie that I was there for my powder and he mentioned that it was now discontinued and what was on the shelf was all there would ever be. EVER. (whoa, I almost cried-seriously) Now I am not a big fan of beauty supplies, or even a high maintenance girl in general, but I like what I like. With out a word, Alan walked over to the shelf and proceeded to load ALL of the remaining powders into the basket. There were 9 little cans.
Does he think I am ridiculous? Absolutely. Did he think I would have left without all of the powders? Probably not. Did he make me super happy and remind my why I love him? Indeed. I skipped out of the store. On the way back to the car, we also snuck into an emergency room to use the bathroom....It was almost too much for me to process in one day. Good thing the next day he was back to his sensible self. I don't even think I will mess with the covers this week. (too much)

I love Alan