Friday, July 6, 2007

How I Spent My 11th Wedding Anniversary

This morning I woke up, like any other day. Showered, got dressed. Friday is my husband's day off, so I dropped off the May Queen at the neighbors' house so that my husband and I could go see a movie: SiCKO (excellent, will post more on that later, but let me here say go, go, go and see this movie!). Very romantic to be sure. We came home. I picked up The May Queen from the neighbors (my 15 year old babysitter looked very confused when she asked "How was the, uh, documentary? And what was it about again? ... Oh.") On the way back home, grabbed the mail from the mailbox. Noticed 2 greeting cards addressed to my husband and me.

Had the dawning realization that TODAY IS MY ANNIVERSARY, AND I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.

Well, not all about it. I thought about it a few days ago. Even thought about the card I needed to get ready for the big day. But today? Completely slipped my mind. I walked into the house. My husband was on the couch, reading the paper.

"Today is our 11th anniversary," I said. "Happy Anniversary. We've made it 11 years!" (I have always felt that each year I deserve some sort of award for putting up with my husband for another year. And likewise, he deserves one for putting up with me).

Later in the day we dealt with The May Queen's stubborn rudeness in refusing to even say hello to her Grandparents when they called. We had a stunning dinner of frozen chicken patties, Pringles, left over veggies and blueberries. I told my husband that we used to eat those chicken patties all the time when we were first married, and so really, this was a meal of rememberance. He knew I was making it up. If I had thought this through that yummy new pesto chicken I made yesterday? I would have made it today. Or the steak we had a few days ago. But no, I pulled out the frozen, breaded, chicken patties. Classic. I did, however, manage to pull our unity candle (the one we lit at our wedding, 11 years ago) out of the closet and light it for this romantic dinner.

Then, I went outside to mow the lawn, racing with the black cloud that grew closer every moment. For the last 5 minutes of the mowing it was pouring rain, but I wasn't about to leave that last bit unmowed!

As I was reading the May Queen her bedtime story, I was thinking about this wonderful child that is the product of our 11 years together. I glanced over at her, to see her with her big toe completely in her mouth. When I asked her why she told me that she likes to do that. And in case you were wondering, she reports that it doesn't necessarily taste good, but it tastes like skin. It took me a while to recompose myself so I could finish reading Chester. I kept giggling.

So. That was my romantic day. Last year, we planned a cruise. This year: SiCKO, child slamming doors, frozen chicken patties, mowing in the rain, child sucking on her toe.

Happy Anniversary to Us.

Of course, hubby got really sea sick on that cruise, so really, maybe this was better.

12 comments:

Chaotic Joy said...

Oh I think that's a wonderful way to spend an anniversary...full of the good things that are your life. And you were together after all. Happy 11th to you both!

thirtysomething said...

I love it! What a dose of true reality. Marriage, kid, frozen dinners, and hilarious comments coming from the mouths of babes. You will look back on that anniversary fondly for a long time. I just know it!
Coincidentally, it appears as though hubby didn't really remeber it either....LOL

painted maypole said...

yes, I noticed that he also seemed to have forgotten. And he's actually usually REALLY good at remembering dates. He's not really good at CELEBRATING them or gift-giving, but he is usually the first one to say "happy anniversary" or whatever, and never has to think about what the date is if he's asked.

Furrow said...

Sounds like a good one to me. You were too busy having regular fun to remember that it was a "special day." Cool. Whenever we try really hard to make a day special, we usually end up screwing it up.

Anonymous said...

Our anniversary is between Christmas and New Year's, so we have forgotten it a few times, too. But we've always been together, so, like you, there's never a "bad" anniversary.

Hey, it's Saturday night - go out again.

And congratulations!

Candygirlflies said...

Hey, THIS is the kind of stuff that a Real Marriage is all about! It's not the stuff you plan for "special occasions" that counts... it's the nice things you do for each other EVERY DAY... like, for example, those lovely dinners you prepared for no particular reason, because you love your family. Well, and the laundry. And taking out the garbage. And washing the kitchen floor. And scrubbing the g-d toilets. And hey, how come it's always US that has to refill the toilet paper?! And.... !!!

Happy Anniversary.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Mmmmm... chicken patties....

Happy Anniversary.

tastes like skin.... :)

ewe are here said...

Sounds like you've both been busy...these things happen.

:)

Happy Anniversary to you both.

Girlplustwo said...

it's honest, it's real, and it's perfect. happy number eleven, sister.

Creative-Type Dad said...

chicken patties- frozen? See, another reason why I go to KFC.

Happy Anniversary

Unknown said...

Happy Anniversary! Many happy returns of the day.

I've had anniversaries like the one you've described. ;-)

Ally said...

Oh wow, I totally relate to this. This is how one celebrates an anniversary in the real world of children-in-the-home. The fact that you got out and saw a movie puts you far ahead of most of us!