| Ten years. Has it really been ten years? Seems like only two or three. On this day, by this time that I am writing, Hubby and I were married under a thatch hut on the beach at Treasure Island, Florida. We had to frantically find another justice of the peace because the first one didn't show up at sunset (and I still don't know why). I didn't order enough pizza and we had barely started eating it when the second justice of the peace of choice arrived. Bill nearly choked up when he said "I do". Four out of my five kids were there for the ceremony. We played shuffleboard and dipped in the pool and the hot tub after we were wed, mindful of the huge amount of packing we still had to do but not caring because we didn't want the night to end. Bill couldn't stay up any longer so he went up to bed. I went, too, and we had some cuddle time but I was drawn back down to the activities. It was going to be my last night in Florida, so I thought, and I wanted to savor it as long as I could. I stayed up much too late but finally went to bed and had to wake up just a couple of hours later to keep on packing. We were hoping to leave for our new life in Canada by the afternoon. Well, that didn't happen. We went to Canada okay but it was a day or two later because it took longer to pack everything and then when we did leave a day later fatigue set in halfway into Georgia so we stopped early, like way early, just shortly after noon. That meant we had to stop again in upper Ohio for another night's sleep before hitting the border and the final stretch to Bill's place. But we made it eventually and started our married life together in Canada.
Boy, those are some memories. So, now ten years later and ten moves later , we are settled into our cozy house in Hamilton, Ohio living with the Muckheads. The Muckheads consist now of Amy, Todd and Addy. I don't know what we call Kip nowadays except late. Maybe we could call him Chucklehead or Knucklehead. Heh, heh, just thought of one for Bill. Canuckhead. The funny thing I have to relate tonight is this wonderfully, magically appearing rosebush that Bill got for me. We came home feeling relaxed and contented. Bill said he didn't mind if I went upstairs to watch Survivor with the Muckheads, as is my usual custom. After Survivor, I came back down relishing the thought of having a slice of that white bakery cake that I had purchased that morning. I went straight to the cupboards with the dishes in them and got down two plates. As I turned around, my eyes landed right on the cake on the kitchen counter by the sink and I headed straight for it, moved it over a bit so I could set the plates down, and then got a slice of cake on each plate. Then I got my water bottle out of the refrigerator and went down to the computer room. We sat in our respective computer chairs and did our usual computer things as we ate cake. Bill left the room when he was done. A few moments later, I hear him singing, "Happy anniversary to you" as he comes back into the room. "Wah," I said and my eyes drew up a few tears of joy as I saw him presenting me with a tall red rose bush to be planted in the yard at the next opportunity. Pretty clever of him, giving me a rosebush that will bloom year after year. He won't have to go out and buy anymore for me. Just pluck one or two from the stalks. Oh, wait. Roses don't bloom until late June usually, don't they? He held the big bloom up to my nose for me to smell and sweet smelling was certainly what it was. Then he asked if I hadn't seen it sitting on the counter when I was getting the cake. "What?" I asked. "Didn't you see it sitting on the kitchen counter when you got the cake?" he asked in return. "No way, you're kidding me," I said in astonishment, "that thing was sitting on the kitchen counter? Where?" "Right beside the cake." "No!" "You didn't see it?" "Not at all," I said shaking my head, "I had cake in my sights." He had to laugh at that one. It was the truth. If anyone knows me they know I have a sweet tooth and a big weakness for cake . . . and cookies . . . and doughnuts . . . I still couldn't comprehend how I could have missed seeing that three-foot tall plant sitting there. I definitely had cake vision going. I do remember seeing the big yellow popcorn bowl and I told him that. "The rose was right there between the popcorn bowl and the cake." That just made me feel even more flustered. We both had a good laugh. It's kinda embarrassing to be admitting this but it was too funny not to tell about. The plant definitely hadn't been there before Survivor. He had gone out and bought it while I was upstairs. I had teased him a bit before we went to dinner about not getting me flowers for our anniversary. After he presented me with the rosebush, I said something about having guilted him into buying it. He said I hadn't, he had thought about getting me some flowers earlier but didn't follow through with the thought. Well, it was much more fun this way, I thought. As you can see, Kaboodle approves of the new plant. No, that's not grass, Kaboodle. Yeh, you found that out. Like always, she HAS to come and sniff anything that is new. |
We went out to dinner as we always do for special ocassions or when I just don't feel like cooking. Our restaurant of choice, after our first couple of choices didn't pan out, was The Spaghetti Factory. I won't go into the details as to why the first couple of choices didn't work. But I'm glad we settled on what we did because it was very enjoyable and felt special. We hadn't been to this restaurant in this area so that's why it was a special treat. We've been to many Old Spaghetti Warehouses in various cities and to one called The Spaghetti Factory in Toronto, where I commenced to set my paper menu on fire from the lighted candle, so it was time to see what this one in Fairfield looked like. It was just like the others in its decor, of which I was very pleased.