September 18, 2008 | Ottomatic For the People
I’m still sick and pitiful, so this will be a quick one, but it’s one that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while.
Long ago—before we were engaged, even, I think—one time Otto was visiting us for the weekend and Chickadee was flitting around with a bunch of craft supplies and stuck a butterfly sticker on his shirt. She thought this was hilarious. Because, it was a sparkly butterfly! On a great big MAN! SO FUNNY!
I expected Otto to dispose of the sticker at his earliest convenience, though he humored her at the time by thanking her rather elaborately for the nice gift. This made her laugh even more, of course.
I promptly forgot about the entire thing, and so when I was visiting him next and saw a small butterfly sticker on the corner of his laptop I was confused.
“Where’d you get THAT?” I asked.
“Chickadee gave it to me,” he said, in a voice that conveyed his amazement that I manage to remember to breathe.
“And you kept it?” I asked, because I was on a roll with the being stupid and all.
“I figured I should,” he said, with a shrug.
And so the butterfly lived on his laptop, a little bit of glitter in his otherwise pristine and unadorned surroundings. It sat there quietly, without fanfare. Just an unexpected addition someone might not even notice.
The time came when Otto needed a new computer, and so he ordered the new one and it came and he transferred his data over and wiped the old computer and sold it. And he transferred the sticker to his new machine. I bet he had to use some glue, even, but he did it. And the new machine—like the old one before it—sports the butterfly in the corner.
Otto is SO not a sparkly butterfly kind of guy. Except that, since joining our family, I guess he kind of is.
Happy Love Thursday, everyone. Here’s to the love that adds just the right amount of sparkle to life.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:57 am
>sniff<
September 18th, 2008 at 11:58 am
That is one Ottoriffic man.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’m a little teary here. Has Chickie noticed it/mentioned it at all?
September 18th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
awww, that Otto, he makes me want a divorce.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Wow. What more can any of us say???
September 18th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
the butterfly effect.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
That’s so sweet!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
That is a special man.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Awwww. I can just hear that story in a toast at her wedding. It’s so obvious that your family’s love for each other isn’t just flash. You all make it sparkle and work hard to show the love.
Happy Love Thursday!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
awesomeness.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
That is so incredibly sweet! I bet that means a lot to Chickadee too. Just wow!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
As a stepkid (on both sides, no less), I have to say that Otto is a wonderful, wonderful guy.
Not that this comes as a surprise to readers of this blog. :)
Feel better!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
He’s definitely a keeper, that Otto!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
maybe Otto should give seminars to other men on how to be more ottoish!
you are one lucky lady!
September 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
That’s adorable :] What a sweet daddy!
September 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I big pink puffy heart Otto.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
SWEET!
September 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’m pretty sure that all the world over, there are women going, “Awwwwwwww . . . that’s so sweet!” as they read that. I know I did.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
He’s so totally a keeper.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Take some cold medicine and thank the man properly for being so wonderful…
And by that I mean fix him a nice dinner. What did you think I meant?
September 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Awwww. Can you clone him?
September 18th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Very nice! You have a great one there ;-) Happy Love Thursday.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
That was just what I needed to hear today. I adore Love Thursday. Thanks for sharing the love, Mir. Feel better soon!
September 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
2, 4, 6, 8.
Who do we appeciate?
Otto. Otto,
YEA!
September 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Awww! You know you’ve got the right guy when he keeps a sparkly butterfly sticker given to him by his step-daughter.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
*smiling to myself, adding a shake of the head for good measure*
September 18th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
That is one of the sweetest things I have EVER read. Yay Otto!
September 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
So thoughtful of him!
September 18th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
how sweet of him!!
September 18th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Chickie may not have said anything, but I bet she’s noticed. And it means the world to her. Not that she would admit it. Ever. Until she’s 25. :-) Kids, aren’t they grand?
Good job Otto
September 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
That is one amazing man you have there but I’m sure you know that already.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Oh–that is so sweet! He’s a keeper. :)
September 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
That is simply awesome!
September 18th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Very sweet.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I’d keep him.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Thanks for sharing the love.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I’m just so glad to see that not only did he transfer the sticker, but he uses a Mac. :)
September 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
That is TOO sweet!
September 18th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Awww. That’s so sweet.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Darn that Otto is a sweetie!!
September 18th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Awww! Definitely a keeper, that one :)
September 18th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
That is just beautiful, Mir.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Know what? I needed to hear this love story today.
Go Otto!
September 18th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Oh my God, how lovely is he. He is a keeper Mir. Happy Love Thursday.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
He may not be a sparkly butterfly kind of guy, but he is a salt-of-the-earth, hang-on-tight-to-him kind of guy.
Just the kind pretty Mir deserves.
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I mean I loved Otto before this post, but now I’m even more enamored. He’s special that one.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Hello, Pretty Mir!
Greetings from the Houston, Texas, area where Hurricane Ike left us all in a daze. As an evacuee, (thank you, Jamie, for providing a safe haven for us!) I was allowed to return to my home in La Porte yesterday where electricity just came on. My kids and I were among the lucky ones that sustained little damage to our home. After I cleaned my refrigerator and raked 11 bags of leaves, rain gutter debris, and piled more branches on the curb, I powered up the computer and caught up on your blog. Your blog was the little bit of normal for the day. When I realized that today was love Thursday, I lost it. Thanks for the reminder.
September 19th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Otto rocks.
And from your description(s) of him, I ADORE how the sparkly butterfly is so straight and evenly placed. :-)
Congrats on a fantabulous fella.
xo
b.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Oh my gosh, that makes me all warm and fuzzy, how sweet!
September 19th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Otto is a real man! How sweet! Does Chicadee know the sticker is there? I am sure it means a lot to her even if she never says anything.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:29 am
This post made me so happy.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:29 am
AAAAWWWW, I’m overloaded on sweet!! That is so awesome. I’m glad you have found someone so sweet to your little ones. Way to go!!
And Otto, that is just awesome. You rock!!
September 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Otto just won the sweet contest! Yay, Otto!
September 19th, 2008 at 11:14 am
The comment from bogartg should be enough incentive to keep you pounding out posts for a long time.
As I have oft said, Thursdays are my favorite.
September 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am
What a warm and fuzzy thing to do. You’ve got yourself a keeper!
September 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Did you think “I need to marry this man” when he said “I figured I should”??? = ) Otto is a lucky man… and you, Chickie & Monkey are lucky to have him.
Hope you’re feeling better today.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:15 am
awwww!!! ((tear)) can you come pick out a guy for me since you have such amazing luck and taste?
September 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Awww, that is just too sweet. That reminds me of a story when I was a little kid. I barely remember this, but apparently when my grandmother went to Texas and took me and my sister I got these little Lisa Frank kitty stickers (you know, the technicolor ones?), and I just adored these stickers. So, shortly before my mom and dad divorced when I was 8, I decided to put one (I think it was purple, but I can’t remember) on my dad’s very favorite belt buckle.
Visitation was pretty much nonexistent, so I didn’t know until many years later that not only did he keep that sticker on the buckle until it wore off, it’s the thing that struck up a conversation between him and my now-stepmom (who I love to teeny tiny bits). Even now, when I’m 21, the buckle bears a tiny bit of residue from the sticker. :)