Dinner was great but the note was better

My husband and I recently celebrated our 10^th wedding anniversary.  Anniversaries generally aren't a big event in our house.  By the time we got to anniversaries 8 and 9, we both forgot.  Forgetting 8 shocked us both.  I remembered at work a couple days after and called him.  Forgetting 9 was less of an event.  We realized our mistake over dinner and laughed.   But there was no forgetting 10.

My husband and I have had a running joke for 10 years about the vow renewal ceremony we were going to have on our 10th anniversary.  The vow renewal ceremony my husband made the mistake of committing to while planning our wedding.  His theory being there was no need to go big on the wedding since it was a given we'd be doing another on our 10 anniversary.  

 

My husband isn’t into big fru fru stuff so it surprised me he thought we’d do that.  I mentioned that and he said it again and upped the ante saying he'd plan it.  He also offered to make a scrapbook of knick knacks from our wedding.  He is not a man that scrapbooks.  He was clearly delirious when he said it.

I'm not the least bit embarrassed to report how fun it's been fun asking him how the planning has been coming over the last 10 years.  It's another in the long line of games he and I play.  Highlights include the time we moved and he tried to suggest we get rid of the box that contained the wedding knick knacks he's supposed to be scrapbooking because he didn't even recognize the stuff in the box.

But the vow renewal has been the best running joke that got exponentially more fun the closer we got to  the actual 10th anniversary.  For the last year I've been asking how many days I should take off work and whether or not we'd need passports to get to our destination nuptials.  My husband enjoyed assuring me the planning was seamless.

A couple sweet ladies at work gently pointed out to me that there would be no secret vow renewal.  I gently pointed out to them that I've been married to him for 10 years.  No one knows better than I do that there's no secret vow renewal in the works.  Duh!  But why let that cramp a perfectly good long running joke?

Last year, it was mind blowing that the running joke was quickly approaching its deadline. It was not mind blowing that we ended up celebrating without a vow renewal.

We had something better instead.  A night out alone.  That almost never happens.

Trip to the grocery store alone?  Sometimes.  Walking the dogs around the block before bed alone?  Almost every night.  But sitting down to a meal in a nice restaurant by ourselves after 6 pm?  It’s been years.

Since it was the big 1-0 anniversary, we did it up in style.  I’m not joking.  We went to Morton’s Steakhouse and our bill was a ridiculously pretty penny.  I told my inner cheap skate to shut the hell up and enjoy because you only hit 10 once.

Holy crap the food was good.  Best meal of my life.  My husband and I marveled at how perfectly they cooked asparagus.  It takes very little to impress us but I don't think I've ever had more perfect asparagus.  Every piece I've ever eaten before in my life has either been too mushy or too hard. Morton's does it better.  For that matter, they do everything better.

Special anniversary menus! Don't we feel glamorous?

The bread they give you before the meal had some tasty crap in it, the au gratin potatoes were 52 times better than any out of the box Betty Crocker crap I’ve ever eaten and our steaks were so good it felt like a crime to not shovel the entire thing in my face.  There was even some fluffy lemony thing for dessert.  Nom.  Nom.  I ate the hell out of every single thing they put in front of me.

I also dressed up for the occasion.  At work, I wear black slacks and sensible shoes almost every day.  I also pull my hair back in a bun and am a walking alpha female all day.  With the perfect excuse to break out of the mold, it was fun to take my new figure for a test drive in a dress. My husband was appropriately impressed. 

I love that the paparazzi got our legs in focus but not our faces.  And, yes, those are actual heels.  On my body.  Go figure.

Over candle light, we said sappy stuff to each other.  We waxed nostalgic that for reasons that elude us we seem to like each other more today than we did the day we got married.  Plenty of people can't say that.  It's a humbling thing to realize.  I know for sure we love each other more today.  His smile is more dear to me.  His strong arms give me confidence.  His humor makes everyday more fun.  And he lets the chinks in his armor show just enough that I know he’s human.

Is he perfect?  No.  Hell, no.  But why should he be?  I’m not.  I’m hella imperfect.  To heck with perfection.  Be happy instead.    He’s a keeper. 

So's our life.  And after dinner, this old married couple headed right back to it.  The life that comes complete with a crowded bathroom.  

And kids that take our stuff for their own.

We are blessed with health and happiness.  No other anniversary present required.

Except then I found the hand written note he put together after I fell asleep and left on my nightstand for me to find the next morning.  It listed 15 things he loves about me.  15 wonderfully specific things in his chicken scratch on a silly piece of loose leaf college ruled paper that ended when his hand got tired.  I know because he wrote that on the note, too.

Best. Thing. He. Ever. Gave. Me.  Hands down.  My engagement ring may be worth more at a pawn shop but the note is a priceless treasure of the highest magnitude.   Holy crap every big lug of an Italian Stallion should write one for his wife.  She will go to bed thinking she loves you only to wake up and discover she loves you three times more than she did the night before. 

 

Here's to 10 more years and the scrapbook and vow renewal he still owes me!