I Need To Breathe

A couple of months ago, Matthew texted me and asked if he could arrange for an early Christmas present. There would still be presents under the tree for me, but he had a really great idea. I told him that (telling me so far in advance was cruel and unusual punishment, and) I would be up for said early Christmas present.

A few weeks ago we were going over our respective and family commitments and I reminded him that I was in Kelowna for three days of Professional Development courses. His eyes bugged out a little when I stated the dates and it turned out that he had booked my “early present” on one of the days I had a course. He talked to my office and the office manager came to tell me that it was OK if I missed the Monday morning.

So. I deduced that most likely we were going somewhere overnight on the Sunday. But where? To Kelowna? Vancouver? Up to Apex (the local ski hill)? I HAD NO IDEA.

Sunday arrived and Matthew and the kids were acting a little odd. Well, odder than usual. I wasn’t sure when exactly this “early present” was going to start and I tried not to analyze things too closely or eavesdrop on whispered conversations.

I like surprises.

Matthew left early to set up at church, as he does every week, and I got the kids and myself ready. Upon arriving at the church, Matthew’s Dad was there and Nathan exclaimed, “We’re coming to your house!” I had figured as much, but smiled at Nathan’s lack of stealth.

We all sat down, the music started, Matthew came to join us and…he told me to grab my purse. We headed to the van and he said that we were heading home quickly to pack. I was to pack my toiletries, a dress, a pair of jeans and a top and my clothes for my course the next day. Oh, and my camera and laptop. We threw all of our stuff into a suitcase and hit the road.

He got close to the highway and I asked him if we were going north or south. “South.” We drove past the airport, past the turnoff to the ski hill and just kept driving. There’s a nice resort close to the border and I thought maybe we were going there. Maybe. I couldn’t see us actually going south of the border because the middle of Washington State is pretty much a barren wasteland.

Before I knew it, we were…at the border. The border guard checked our passports, asked us where we were from and where we were headed.

“Spokane.”

Huh? Spokane? We’ve never been to Spokane and I had no idea why we’d be driving five hours from home to go to SPOKANE. It’s Kerri’s home town but she lives in Portland and WHY WOULD WE BE GOING TO SPOKANE?

He handed me a pretty Christmas card that said lots of nice things and he wrote some pretty sweet things of his own. His last sentence was, “Whatever you do, you need to breathe.”

Say what now?

I asked him what that meant, exactly. He handed me another envelope, I pulled out the papers, unfolded them, and read where we were going. We were going here:

Needtobreathe was playing that night at The Knitting Factory. Needtobreathe. Needtobreathe! NEEDTOBREATHE.

Also known as my most favoritest (yes, that’s a word) band. I listen to them nearly every day, on constant repeat. I love them, I love them, I LOVE THEM. And my brilliant husband searched to see if they were touring, saw that the closest place to us was Spokane, and done gone and booked us tickets and made all of the other arrangements for us to make it happen.

Can you see why I love him?

We had some great chats on our drive, scored Miss Emily a lovely Christmas dress at a shopping centre in Spokane and then headed to one of the restaurants that Kerri had suggested after I had emailed her to tell her that we were going to Spokane. Spokane!

The concert venue was a bar with small tables up in the back and a huge dance floor (where the underaged kids had to watch the show from). By the time we got inside, the tables were all taken, so we asked an older couple if we could join them. They were sweet and lovely and friendly and we scored a sweet view, to boot. Because we were directly behind the stairs, we figured we’d be golden for an unobstructed view.

The opening band came on and then this happened.

As the opening act were wrapping up their set I sidled up to the dudes and asked them if they wouldn’t mind either standing at the bottom of the stairs or moving to the back. They (were a little buzzed, and) hadn’t realized they were blocking the view for a whole bunch of people. They moved back and stood beside us and next up was Needtobreathe.

They were even better live than I had hoped and my only complaint is that they didn’t play EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR SONGS. Alas, they had to shut it down sometime and we had to start driving home.

Yes, we started driving home at 11 pm. We figured we’d drive until we (by we, I mean Matthew) was too tired to drive. We talked, we (I) started editing photos and then we cranked dance music to keep us (him) awake. We made it all the way to Omak…at 1:30 in the morning. The Best Western gave us a discount. Probably because we’d only be sleeping for six hours.

We “slept in” until 8:30, scored some of the continental breakfast and then started the rest of the way home. We made it back to the church, where we had left the truck, and I…drove an hour north to Kelowna. To attend a tax course. While existing on five hours of sleep. In a room that was SO FREAKING WARM. I may or may not have done the head-bob-pretend-it-was-on-purpose-somehow move.

It was all worth it, though. I was reminded yet again how Matthew is one of the greatest men that this planet e’er did see. Like I needed reminding, but still.

And Honey? Thank you. Thank you for loving me and making me laugh and spoiling me rotten and being the best Dad ON THE PLANET and being so good with gifts and for taking care of me and for being so HOT and for putting up with my ridiculousness and for your gentle nature and for being all that you are and all that I haven’t even discovered yet. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you but I will continue to thank God for you every day because, man. I scored HUGE. I will never forget it. How could I?

I love you. Forever.