Two down and two more to go.

Each year my creativity is challenged for four consecutive months. Tiffany celebrates her birthday in November. December brings Christmas. Our wedding anniversary falls in January and Valentine’s Day awaits me in February.

My annual quarter of gift hunting is further complicated by the fact that Tiffany is the single most difficult person to buy gifts for.

Friday, Tiffany and I will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. We often joke that we get credit for double time since we live and work together. People’s first reaction to hearing that we spend practically 23 of 24 hours a day together is one of shock.

“There’s no way I could work with my (husband/wife).” We’ve heard that one a million times. We’ve never had it any other way.

I met Tiffany when I was hired at the Clanton Advertiser in September 2003. For those of you who have already done the math, we dated for about three months and got married.

At the time, I was a news reporter and Tiffany was a sports reporter. Shortly after Lizzie was born in 2004, Tiffany moved to sell advertising in Clanton while I assumed the management of the newsroom.

In 2006 we moved to Russellville. I served as the newspaper’s editor and publisher and Tiffany as the advertising manager. In June 2008, we moved to Demopolis, each taking the same roles here.

As of Jan. 3, 2009, Tiffany and I will have been married for 43,800 hours. If I had to hazard a guess, we’ve probably spent 43,750 of those hours in the same building, whether that’s at home or at work.

You get used to it and, after a while, you come to rely on. It comforts me knowing that I can go home and bounce some idea off Tiffany and she will fully understand what I’m talking about. It’s also nice to know that on the nights that I have to work late, there’s no issue with my coming home well after bedtime, much less dinner-time. She knows it’s all part of the job.

Regardless of whether we get credit for five years or 10 in the logbook of time served, it’s been a good five years. But it will be better once I figure out what to get for a present.

Note: Jason Cannon is editor and publisher of the Demopolis Times.