I got lucky. I met a super boy that became a wonderful man and we got married. And then I got really lucky and all that worrying I did about being able to get pregnant turned out to be for nothing and we made a honeymoon baby.
So, wedding anniversaries tend to disappear in a mess of kids and baby and soccer practice and mother’s day and my birthday is next week, anyway.
But lately I have been thinking about how important it is to stop and take a breather and honor the marriage that the rest of my life hinges around. We’ve got a good thing. So, it seems easy. But a marriage needs to be fed. Nobody likes a hungry marriage.
Sunday afternoon, after my race, I asked MQD if he wanted to go out and grab a pitcher and some burgers at The Wooden Nickel and call it our Anniversary Dinner.
As evidenced by the sippy cup behind the pitcher, we had company. But she came home from our honeymoon with us, after all. It didn’t bother me to have her tag along on our Anniversary Dinner. We laughed and talked and we fed our marriage. 
Nobody left hungry. Cheeseburger plus fried egg plus tater tots plus beers equals a happy marriage, FYI.
We’d planned on eating dinner at home last night. I would pick up cupcakes from Sugarland (they did our wedding cupcakes!) and MQD would grab sushi from a local place and we’d lay low. And then I got lucky again. The stars and the soccer and softball schedules aligned and my kids were invited to eat dinner with my nearest and dearest and her family. With the kids out of the picture I had to amp up the Wedding Anniversary Shenanigans. Quickly.
Wedding Dress plus Apron equals a sweet surprise. MQD called to let me know he’d picked up dinner and asked what I was up to. “Just playing with the kids and waiting for my husband like a pretty princess.” 
He thought I was kidding.
“When are you not just hanging around like a pretty princess?” I had mentioned wearing my wedding dress all day for our anniversary but evidently he didn’t think I would bother. He got out of his car and we met him on the porch as we often do, only I was a wee bit more glam than normal. I opted to switch up my greeting from my typical still sweaty in gym clothes “Dinner is almost ready, I am taking a shower” and went with a “You have ten minutes to change your clothes, kids are having dinner across the street. We are going out for a drink, home to eat cupcakes and we can have sushi after the kids go to bed?”
Three years and counting and he still rolls right along with my nonsense.
From our wedding vows (and Tom Robbins’ Still Life with Woodpecker)
“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.”
Thank you, nice lady, for taking our picture in front of Mystery Brewing Company! And double thank you to the nut that asked us if we were going to prom when we ran into the store to grab beers on the way home.
“If you go home with somebody, and they don’t have books, don’t fuck ’em!”
No matter how sure I am, no matter that I know in my heart of hearts that I am doing the “right thing” there is something about having a “wedding” that is making me antsy. It’s funny, I never felt like this when I got married before. Although if you’d asked me to be honest, even then, if I thought we’d make it until the end of time I would have had to ask you what “make it” looks like to you.
Excitement on the side 