my husband is a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

When you're coming up on ten years of marriage, it's something to be proud of but can also make you realize just how settled you've become. I mean, when your lives revolve around young children things can become a little tedious and redundant, no matter how healthy your marriage is. So last Friday came as a huge surprise to me.

I had just picked up my 2nd grader from school and was trying to figure out what was for dinner. The boys were in the front yard with the neighbor's kids and I wandered out to visit with their mom. She crossed the street and I immediately noticed that she looked like the cat who ate the canary. "What?!" I asked her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" she replied.

Then she asked me what our plans were for the weekend we chatted about the usual things.

I told her I'd rented some kid movie and maybe we'd have popcorn and stay up late with the boys.

She still looked fishy to me but I just went back home. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. I thought it was the boys messing with me but instead I found a man with flowers standing there. I thought he might have the wrong house since we have nothing going on right now- no birthdays or anniversaries. But they were for me!

I brought them into the kitchen and opened the card, wondering what on earth it was going to say.

"Drinks, dinner, little black dress. 5:30. D."

Holy moly. It was 4:30 then. I picked up the phone and called my husband. He was on his way home from work. "What is going on?" I asked him. "Just hurry up!" he said. The flowers were supposed to be there hours earlier so I wouldn't have to rush but the florist had not been on time. And our neighbor was acting weird because he'd asked her to watch the boys while I got ready.

He had even lined up a babysitter! And a free one at that. I rushed to shower and find a little black dress. I could only find a long black dress, but oh well.

Our reservations were for a cute little restaurant that I'd mentioned in passing months ago. The fact that he'd remembered I'd wanted to eat there really surprised me. He'd even lined up a specific waiter referred by a friend.

We arrived there on time and had drinks at the tiny bar that sat three people. Basically, it was an old house converted into a restaurant. Totally my style. The bartender made me a lemon-drop. I'd never had one before and it was awesome. Then we were seated at a corner table right by a window. I even had pillows to lean against.

Our waiter was everything he was said to be: funny, entertaining, and knew a lot about food since he was a chef, too. He was also very gay but was married with three kids. Hmmmm. We've met a few couples like that now and are always intrigued, but that's a whole 'nother blog post.

Anyway, we had so much fun and ate way too much. And it was totally worth it to be reminded that I was so blessed to have married the exact right person for me.