My husband makes up one half of the 75th most powerful person in Richmond. You didn’t know he was a puppet master, did you?
Here’s the blurb:
75. Ross Catrow and John Murden
Richmond’s online community has a streak of serious civic engagement because of the infrastructure provided by John Murden and Ross Catrow. Murden built, modeled and then shared his template for neighborhood blogs. Now a dozen outlets across the city keep tabs on micropolitical issues and neighborhood meetings. Catrow’s aggregator, RVAblogs.com, serves as a central clearinghouse for each new post from more than 300 local writers on a myriad of topics, and a rash of play-by-play pregnancy stories. Their innovations have quickly built a new forum, nurtured a fresh pantheon of pundits and welcomed scorekeepers in the arena of public accountability.
(originally appearing here)
Monday - I have a dinner to go to, Ross keeps himself busy by getting dinner with someone else
Tuesday - I have a meeting after work, Ross has a different meeting after work and then spends the remainder of the evening *doing* work
Wednesday - Ross has a thing at 5:30 and then another thing from 8 to 11
Thursday - I have my church’s women’s group from 7 until ?
Sigh. I really miss that guy.
Ross and I just spent almost 2 hours IMing about his latest Internet Empire Project.
We’re about 20 feet away from each other.
Love is when your husband has a fancy grilled cheese sandwich* waiting for you when you get home from work, even though you’ve been too busy to talk to him for the last two days.
*homemade bread, fresh mozzarella, pesto, and a slice of tomato

Thank you.
This:

Ross lived in Brazil for during his years in 3rdish or 4thish grade. Consequently, he just didn’t experience what the rest of us did at that age. Sometimes we’ll be in the car and a song will come on the radio that I remember from that time and that he’s never heard and I get kind of sad for him - but just for a minute because, come on, he was living in BRAZIL where he had a MAID and a CHAUFFEUR because it cost like $11 a month.
Last night while we were at Kroger, Ross decided he should get a toy as long as it cost under $4. Because he’s seven. He came across this:

Actually, his was of the Backyardigans variety, but you get the idea. Of course as soon as we got in the car, he started playing it. With, shall we say, some difficulty? And then I realized why.
Brazil.
Anyone who went to elementary school in Chesterfield County (and maybe in the state of Virginia) played the recorder in 4th grade. It’s what you *do.* Hot Cross Buns is old hat by Winter Break and by April, you’re rocking out to When the Saints Go Marching In.
But, Ross wasn’t in Chesterfield County then. He was a bit closer to the equator, going to the beach every day and speaking Portuguese like a beautiful little native.
A lot of good that does him now. Sure he’s gone swimming in pristine caves, but did he pick apart (and eventually MASTER) the melody to the theme of Free Willy like my sister and I did? I think not.
Ross and I celebrated our Christmas together this morning. I must say he did an excellent job. I got this, this, and this:

(Made just for me by this lovely lady)
Ross turned 27 about 30 minutes ago. We went to Cous Cous for drinks with many friends and had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came out.
I love you, hubs. Happy Birthday! I love you.
Rather than spending this evening cleaning or putting up Christmas decorations or, I don’t know, functioning as a human being, I watched every existing episode of Quarter Life. It is now my new favorite thing and my heart aches at the thought that I have to wait until the next episode.
Jed is my favorite, played by Scott M. Foster. Every time he’s on screen I think, “Oh my gosh, he is SO CUTE.” And then I realized something. Take a look at this picture of him. The light blue eyes. The defined chin. The wavy brown hair that curls up at the ends. The belly flip-flop-inducing smirk. He is just my type.