An example of his wonderfulness (it’s a word now!) is that he remembers for us that our first date was on Bastille Day in the year 2000.  He took me to dinner, then to the toy store for a preparatory explanation of the movie we were about to see, then to see the first X-Men movie.  We had a great time on that date and got married two years later.  In the nine years since, Colin has made a point of taking me to each of the X-Men movies in the theater in honor of our first date.  Isn’t that awesome?  I like to think romantic stuff like that doesn’t matter to me, but I get really excited when he makes a point of celebrating “us” together.

Good Kimberly offered last-minute to babysit ALL THREE KIDS so we could go out that night, and Colin planned the whole date.  I love planned dates!  Even when they cost zero dollars, or when I don’t even like the plans, I love it just that he plans ahead.  After a very, very long day wrestling with the little ones, re-showering and putting some makeup on and going out alone together was impressively refreshing.  Colin had looked up the new X-Men: Wolverine movie and made phone calls to find out which theaters had it on the largest, digital screens and at what time, then decided on a restaurant nearby for dinner.  We picked up our tickets, then took a little walk around the downtown area, and headed to dinner at a fun Mexican restaurant.  After dinner, we discovered that we’d locked the keys in the car, but we have roadside assistance coverage with our car insurance so it wasn’t too much of a stress and we decided to just watch the movie and then call the insurance to have the car unlocked.  The movie was neat (not flawless, and I recommend watching it on Clearplay at home for those of you who, like me, prefer to skip the violence), and afterward the tow truck/locksmith guy came very quickly. We got home to sleeping children and a lovely babysitter who didn’t even imply a desire to strangle us for being gone so long.  She even giggled with us over the fairy band-aids we got her that we made with “real fairy wings.”  Thank you Kim!

We spent much of the evening patting ourselves on the back for our marriage accomplishments.  We’ve made it through three relatively unpleasant pregnancies, had three relatively pleasant children, bought a house, moved several times, changed jobs, dealt with unemployment and financial stress, done grad school, supported each other in various callings at church, and managed to enjoy each other in the process.  It’s good to remember some things you’ve done right once in a while.  Here’s to forever, Colin!

Maybe it's just the anniversary of the event making waves, but the Nine are a really BIG deal here.  Those who like them and are impressed with them are loud about it, while I've found that those who aren't pleased about them are pretty quiet about it unless you catch them in a place where they feel safe.  Today during the commemoration ceremony and speeches I was watching the news coverage of it on TV while I waited for my car to be serviced.  I didn't pick the channel, it was on when I walked in, but I was interested in the story and the history of it all.  Another (older) lady who was waiting for her car came into the waiting room and cooed over my babies, then surprised me by turning to the TV and angrily saying "Even after 50 years they won't stop griping!"  I asked her if she was around when it all happened and she said yes, that her kids were starting first grade that year and that "ever since all the schools have gone downhill." 

I like to consider myself not racist.  I think that the way people act and think, not their skin color, is an indicator of how good they are.  I have and have had good friends who are black, Asian, Hispanic, and probably whatever else you want to bring up.  The way someone talks, the way they dress, the way they walk, the opinions they express are all better indicators (even if they aren't great indicators alone) to me of whether I want to spend time with them than race.  That said, I've surprised myself by experiencing some crazy culture shock here in Arkansas.  It seems like everyone considers race here as a core point of every problem.  Black people think white people are out to get them.  White people think black people are out to get everybody.  No one notes the problem with their attitude about who is the problem. 

Anyway, I watched the Little Rock Nine (Colin comments that "they're not so little anymore") give short speeches today about how much we still need to improve our attitudes about race and education and I didn't disagree with any of that, but I wasn't terribly inspired either.  One of them recognized former President Clinton who was on the stage with them as "the tenth member of the Little Rock Nine" and that was kind of weird. 

I don't know a whole lot about the Little Rock Nine, except that 50 years ago the courts ordered Central High to integrate, a bunch of white people threatened to riot and hurt people, the Governor decided to postpone the integration and enforce it with the National Guard, then Pres. Eisenhower sent in the Army to integrate the school, and nine black students went to school at Central High under extremely perilous circumstances.  I'm glad that the schools are "integrated" officially, although when I drive by I notice that the neighborhood is run down and there are no white people around so I question whether it's integrated more than officially.  I'm impressed at the courage it took, though I wonder at whether their parents were crazy to get their children to risk their lives. 

For anyone who wonders, racism still exists among both white people and black people.  But it doesn't seem to help to talk about it and how bad it is.  It seems to me that one thing that helps is people of each race living good, responsible lives, caring for each other, and setting a good example.  Part of the reason I know black people are good is because of the black people I know who are good and hopefully the black people I know have had a good experience with me and know that white people can be good, too.  I realize that's a simplistic way of looking at things, but it is as start and it's something I can do myself and something anyone else can do. 

I'm soooooo glad that Colin and I got married.  It's fun to be married, and it's waaaaaaaay better than being single.  We get to hang out together and take care of each other and take care of our kids together.  Marriage is awesome.

Colin is awesome, too.  He's always coming up with new ways to make me laugh.  Optimism eminates from him practically 24/7.  I'm still impressed by how smart Colin is and how he comes up with tons of new ideas every day and solves all sorts of problems faster than normal people do.  He's so nice and happy and good that it makes me want to be better myself.