My Marlboro Man

No, I'm not stealing Ree Drummond's affectionate term for her husband here... I just happen to think that every single one of us married women has a "Marlboro Man"... you know, the guy who fixes things around the house, keeps the yard all mowed and looking nice, and keeps your car tires all full of air... he slings the hay bales from the trailer to the barn/shop (oh sure, I could do it if I HAD to), repairs the chicken coop so you can finally purchase your first flock of babies, starts a compost pile for the garden that he's going to till for you... and on and on and on I could rant.

{If you don't know who Ree Drummond is, and I would hazard a guess to say that almost all my readers do know who she is.... then you need to go here to read more about the Pioneer Woman, and right here to find out about her Marlboro Man.}


Let's face it... my Marlboro Man is my go-to guy. Not just because I love him and I have so much fun with him, but because he's good at everything he does, and his mind is chock-full of knowledge and wisdom. He's one of the smartest guys I've met, and just the best when it comes to problem-solving.  Sometimes I feel like such a duh when he comes up with solutions that should have been obvious to me!  He's so good at making stuff out of stuff... he's a green kind of guy and probably doesn't even realize it.  He's uber-patient with the animals (and me!), and he's the epitome of calm in a panic situation... call me melodramatic and DON'T come to me in a panic situation!  I can calm down (eventually) but calm is not my normal operating system. I have utter respect for the way he handles our horses... he's mega-matter-of-fact and down to earth and REAL.  Yep, he knows how to keep everything real on the ranch.

Maybe those are some of the reasons we work so well together.


Our 2nd anniversary was March 14.  Since we don't eat out much... I mean, there's no restaurants within a 15 mile radius of our house... we splurged and went to PF Chang's in Wichita.  He loves Chinese, me not so much, but I can stomach Chang's.  He was the only cowboy in the restaurant that day.  He remarked that no one else wore their cowboy hat to lunch at Chang's... I replied that the other cowboys could be found across town at the local barbeque.  How many REAL cowboys eat Chinese?!

Trust me, he looked good in his cowboy hat in that Chinese restaurant.


If you haven't read "our story", you'll just have to click here and find out how we met.  Sometimes life does hand us something better than just lemons... we don't always have to make lemonade. 

But it's always good to know HOW to make lemonade, just in case... 


I won't lie.  I can honestly say that from the summer of 2004 to February of 2007 when I finally met my husband, the guys I met were the worst, the scariest, the most devious and scheming, disgusting ... need I go on?  After the guy who was a compulsive dating site lurker and king of chat with zillions of girls (I dated THAT one for a year, shame on me) to the suicide-threatening goob who stalked me by watching my house and questioning my every move (I went to the grocery store for tea, ass-wipe...I wish all my girls coulda been there when I practically THREW him out my front door after that ludicrous scene), I had decided that the online dating game was no longer for me.

Am I ever glad I gave one more website one more chance, else I would never be where I am today.  Jobless or not, I still believe that I am in the best place I've ever been in my life, and I'm truly thankful and grateful for my Marlboro Man.

How about you?  Is your hubby your Marlboro Man?  :-)


28 comments:

  1. He definitely is my Marlboro Man and I wouldn't be here in the country without him. We met on line too; we were both giving the dating scene one last try and we're glad we did. : )

    ~Andrea~

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  2. My hubby is my Marlboro Man....no doubt about it. We also met online...in 1999. We married in Feb 2002 and he is my best friend. Our previous marriages lasted approx 25 years each...there were a lot of wasted years left behind us but we're making up for lost time and enjoying the ride.

    Maura

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  3. Tom is on the cover of my book, A Story of the West, so what do you think?

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  4. Great story and tribute to your husband. Happy 2nd and I hope that you get to share many more.

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  5. Loved this post, Susan! Happy Anniversary :)

    I think our guys must be related. They are oh-so-similiar! J would wear his cowboy hat in a Chinese restaurant too. "cause a cowboy ain't a cowboy without it!

    I am trying to catch up on everyones posts. I am sooo behind in reading. Too much to do, too little time!

    xo, misha

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  6. He sounds like a great guy, and I'm so glad you found each other! Happy anniversary!

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  7. Happy anniversary! I read your story, how lovely! I met my boyfriend of 4 years online too. It does work out for some of us. :D

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  8. Ah - happy anniversary! That's one cool dude!

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  9. Happy Anniversary to you both. We are glad you met your man and we reckon the two of you make a good team!
    xxx

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  10. Happy Anniversary to you guys!! I am glad you all found one another, you obviously are very much in love!!

    So do you mean my "marlboro man" is supposed to mow the lawn?! For reals?! LOL JK!! I'm not "allowed" to do it because of my back but sometimes I cheat because a girl can only handle her acre front yard taller than 5" for to long, ya know?! But I DO love my "marlboro man"!! We met when I was 17 and married when I was 19, have been married for almost 13 yrs!! He must love me to since he can calm me, because I'm not the calmest person either LOL!!

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  11. I don't have a Marlboro man.

    But I'm glad you do.

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  12. I had never read your post about how you met the hubby. I'm glad you found your Marlboro Man and Happy Anniversary.

    My Hillbilly is my "Marlboro Man" too. He's what keeps me sane in this crazy world.

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  13. Aw, Suz . . . Congrats to you and Marlboro Man . . . I know, too well, how wonderful it can be . . . I am so happy for you both that you took the risk to love and didn't get jaded and bitter from your previous disappointing relationships . . .
    That takes courage and hope . . . and those are the ingredients that keep us going moment by moment . . .
    If T is your Marlboro Man, you must, for certain, be his Marlboro Woman. May these next 50 years of your lives be the most fulfilling and joyful of all.

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  14. I almost cried over this post, it was so romantic! And I went to your other posts to see the history, and read a few more along the way that I'd never seen, and I like you even more than I already did. You two are off to such a good start (yes, still on the honeymoon at two years), and seem to have all the ingredients to make it a happily-ever-after that will last. Congratulations!

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  15. How sweet...isn't it just the best to have someone you can totally trust and love...all the matters really. My Larry is definitely My Marlboro Man...always has and always will be...

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  16. What a loving tribute to your "Marlboro Man" and yes, I've got one too so Ree doesn't have THAT market cornered.

    My hubs loves P.F. Changs too and you can bet when we eat there, he's wearing his black Stetson...well, unless it's summer and then he's wearing a straw but either way, he's the most handsome guy in the entire place, at least in my eyes.

    Happy Anniversary to you both and I wish you many many many more to come. btw, what site did you find him on because I swear this time I'M the one picking out my son's NEXT girlfriend. LOL

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  17. Happy anniversary! I am so happy for you. I met my hubby online too. We have been together four and a half years and he is the first person I relate to like this and being with him is exactly where I want to be. Nice writing and again, happy for you.

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  18. Happy Anniversary! Yes I have had my wonderful husband 40 years now ..we are best friends:)

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  19. Happy Anniversary you two lovebirds, what a wonderful tribute.

    Yes the Hubster is my MM and going on what you wrote, our MM's would git along great in their cowboy hats, so we need to work on a meet-up!

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  20. Such a happy ending, to a wonderful story. Life does give us great things, we just need to be patient.

    Jen

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  21. oh yeah...married 27 years...wouldn't trade him for anything...I got lucky...

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  22. My manly-man is absolutely my Marlboro Man! We went to our senior prom FIFTY years ago, well in May it will be. We married the next year after our freshman year in college. He is still my boyfriend, my knight in shining armor, the light of my life...need I go on? You have alot to look forward to my dear.

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  23. Nope...no Marlboro Man at my house, though he's nowhere near as bad as those guys you had to wade through to find your Prince Charming.

    He loves me probably more than I love myself and he does have a big loving heart. But he can't fix a thing, and mostly breaks things instead. He's the king of procrastination and he's far from patient on any day.

    But we'll be married for 20 years in May and have 3 awesome kids to show for our years together.

    So, yeh, I'm still making lemonaid.....but it tastes pretty sweet.


    Happy Anniversary!!

    ~Lisa

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  24. Well, it's not Ree's term anyway... I do believe she stole the term from a cigarette commercial from before she was even born. Use the term all you want.

    Di
    The Blue Ridge Gal
    (P.S. Met my man online in 1997.)

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  25. I didn't know you guys met online - wow! My sister met her hubby that way too - it's as normal as, well, NORMAL dating these days. I met my man in a pub (very Aussie!) and he is INDEED my Marlboro Man.

    In fact, I need to clone him to get all our chores done around here - he actually has to pretend not to know how to do some things so the ENTIRE neighbourhood doesn't borrow him!

    I know how lucky I am. And he reminds me regularly!!
    :-)
    BB

    PS My new blog address (when you get time to update your links) is www.bushbabeofoz.com

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