Here's What Happens

When you don't make any solid plans to celebrate your 18 yrs of weddedness, here's what happens: Your babysitter (who wasn't confirmed) heads to the gym instead of sticking around to babysit your girl. So there's no need to worry about the rain that is pouring down and how the idea of touring the city museums for the day will not be the best due to the weather. Also, no need to worry about how you were running 30 minutes late to drop your 3 yr old off because your sitter will be blissfully ignorant working on the elliptical. Believe me when I say that I wasn't the slightest bit annoyed that she wasn't there when we showed up. I have forgotten to be there when I should be many times (almost daily). Besides, I was crying in the car on the way over and didn't really feel like a museum day. I won't be expounding on why.

So we did what most couples do on their anniversary. We took our baby on a fun trip to a series of hardware stores. Well, actually, we were headed in the direction of an antique place to look for new chairs for the dining room but they weren't open for another hour.

For months we've been carrying around a broken hinge from our cupboard in the car. We have mysterious cupboards that came from another planet I guess, because the hinge is irreplaceable. Our Hulkish son broke the wrong hinge my friends. I am seriously considering home-made hinges fabricated from duct tape. T has no trust in my duct tape abilities. I may just show him!

So we made it our quest to find that hinge. (We went to 4 stores-and btw don't trust the kitchen construction guy when he says the have hinges at the container store). In the process we came home with the following romantic items from Home Depot that I think really spell out our 18 yrs of ups and downs. We purchased fertilizer (cause we all know how fertile I am-5 kids YO!). Sorry I've been using 'yo' a lot lately after watching this. We bought batteries, because our love has lots of energy. Then we got hay for re-seeding the grass at the corner, and some reflector sticks so people will stop being lazy drivers and keep off our grass! The Hay is for 18yrs. You know paper for year one, cotton for year two, leather for the 3rd year. I am pretty sure it's Hay for 18. It just makes sense. Then I forced T to look at fireplace pits for the back yard. I think roasting marsh mellows in the back yard has all kinds of romantic potential. He didn't seem convinced. Then the Home Depot guy told us about a sale on fire pits going on at Patio Barn. I think he was going for employee of the month or something.

Then best part (second only to the moment where, at lunch, I found a hair in my sandwich), was when we came home and organized the entire garage. It's something that has been neglected for the past 18 months. There were still boxes from the move in there that had not been unpacked. I am so glad to have my Dixon Middle School yearbook back so I can put it next to my nightstand and read it every night! When my own middle-school boy came home, he found my journal from that same year and had a grand old time reading it.

So was it a perfect anniversary? No. But we did spend time together and that is what I told him I wanted most of all. And I still think there is chocolate in my future based on what I found under his side of the bed!

Before:

After: