Happy 29th Birthday Juan!!!

Here is where we insert the mandatory “John is great and I love him now I’m going to make all my readers cry by being SUPER sappy but he won’t be impressed by just a blog post so maybe after I write this I’ll go make him coffee and bring it to him topless”. You know, how it usually goes, right?

Well, I don’t really have anything prepared but we have been celebrating all week. I’d say it kicked off with attending another Canucks game last Wednesday where the guys beat the crap out of Calgary in John’s honor. Then on Thursday, Matt Good played an amazing show, that was super nice of him to do for John as well.

Friday we took it easy but I’m pretty sure the good folks at Mui Garden made our curry extra yummy, just for John’s birthday.

Saturday we had a whole bunch of great people over, just to celebrate the guy (man he must be pretty great, getting all this attention and stuff, eh?): Jennie and Amber from Pittsburgh (who were here on Thursday for Matt’s show), Dan from Toronto, an appearance by David and Pam, Corinna and Adam, John Biehler, my sister Jenny, my brother James, Sean, Tanya, Craig, Todd and my vixen in crime, Keira.

Yesterday afternoon we had a lovely lunch at my mom’s, just for John, followed by gifts and cake galore.

Today, September 24th is John’s actual birthday and his last birthday of his 20s… I guess the fun stops here eh? Hardly. We’re going to have a nice dinner tonight and hopefully see the Carlsons and Dave later on. Oh, but that’s not all. I also got us tickets to They Might be Giants tomorrow night, who will play a special show at the Commodore, just for him (and 1,000 other people) which should round out the birthday week rather nicely.

I know John really misses his family, especially around this time of year (it was just his God Son’s birthday too) and after doing a live online fantasy draft with some of his friends from back-home on Saturday, I know he’s really missing a ton of people right now.

Sometimes I forget what he gave up just to come up here and be with me. House, car, job, and while all of those are material things he did start back at square one when we moved in together. We don’t have a car and he didn’t have a job for 18 months (thanks Canadian Immigration!). Also, even though they still communicate and we’re hoping to visit soon, he did give up his weekend drives back home to visit his family, his annual camping trip with Kris, and nights out in Iowa City with D. Sure we keep busy, have a great circle of friends and a phenomenal support system from my loving family, but he did relocate, readjust, realign his life, all for the sake of seeking out something that was missing. I suppose that’s where I fit in. I don’t mean to sell myself (or Canada) short, but it was quite the leap and jolt to the system, it still is.

John’s determination, strength, and support of me when I would crumble from all the pressure we’ve been under for the last two years, is amazing. He fell in love with Vancouver but I’m even more happy, every day, that he fell in love with me. From our early morning walks through Stanley Park, playing Scrabble online on our laptops from opposing ends of the couch, to coming home on a Sunday evening and eating leftover ice cream cake while watching miscellaneous Discovery Channel shows. He keeps me active, on my toes, tries my knowledge, tries my patience, and makes me whole. I think everyone’s pretty impressed at how we both found someone just as utterly geeky as the other.

Happy Birthday John. There, I’ve done it, I’ve started to cry while typing this post and now you’re going to call me a wussy. I’m going to wipe my tears and run into the bedroom to pounce you awake, then you can wipe the tears from my face and give me a kiss – even though it’s your birthday and your special day, that’ll make me feel like gold.

For anyone else who can’t run in and pounce John and wish him a Happy Birthday – although he’d probably love it if Muffin did that – perhaps you could please sponsor him for the Run for the Cure next Sunday. My donations are all filled up but he still needs a hand reaching his goal. You can click here to sponsor his run.