I need a vacation from my vacation.

Ah domestic tranquility. I wish so much that I had you more than one day a week.

I am back from my vacation. Thanks to two of the best house/dog/menagerie sitters ever, everyone is safe and happy and things are right back on schedule.

As KAT alluded to, I have just celebrated my 1 year anniversary. Fittingly, the paper anniversary. We had a quick year. There was so much that we experienced from October 8 2004 to October 8 2005 that it skipped by so quickly that we both nearly forgot all of the craziness in the weeks before our wedding.

In the past year, we've gone through family drama and tragedy, babies being born, the idea of babies being born, work stress and changes, quarterlife crises and the regular stress of homeownership. It's a lot to ask of any one person to bear all of these burdens, so it's nice to have a rock to lean on, or in my case, a husband.

J is a blessing to me. We are so uniquely opposite each other in personality that you'd think we'd clash more than we do. But underneath it all, we've somehow found some common cord thicker than thread to weave our lives together. When we were traveling to our resort, I heard my thoughts voiced. I looked over, and it occurred to me that he regularly voices the things in my head. It's one thing to say -- "I was just thinking that" - but when it starts to happen regularly, you know there's something bigger there.

Sure we squabble. He's a horribly sore loser at setback and gin rummy. But I'm also a terrible whiner and feel the need to voice my opinion more times than would probably be welcome in any other household.

It's a big world. There's so much discord, mistrust, harsh things and violence in it. But I sleep at night knowing that no matter what comes my way -- be it a burgular or a heartbreak, my husband sleeps with a bat next to him so that he can swing at whatever comes our way. It's just up to me to wake him up.

-sj