What I Did on My 8th Anniversary

Eight years ago I managed somehow to wrangle a man into meeting me at the altar.  He claims that he is pleasantly happy with the way things have turned out. As am I.  We'd both say that though this is what we planned we never really imagined it would be quite like this!

This morning I was roused awake by a hurried hug and kiss and a "Happy Anniversary" and before I could even try to pull my eyelids open, he was gone.  Making a dash with what I imagine was his umbrella, backpack and coffee cup, to work.

Struggling out of bed and into my robe, downstairs to make breakfast and herd my kids into the daily routine.  That cup of coffee (made just for me) was like mother's milk.  Into the groove, bags were packed.  Kid's shoehorned into their jackets and off to school.  All the way one or both made ridiculous knock-knock jokes.  Not one of them had an actual punch line but that didn't stop the squeals of delight at their wit.

I did manage to get a little bit of work done this morning on top of consuming half a pot of coffee before tidying myself up and scarfing down lunch to head off to field trip hell.  I volunteered to accompany my youngest to the Apple Orchard today.  For some reason it's suspected that he would be unable to control himself on a school trip.  Unnecessary foreboding.  He was a total angel, needing a lot less redirection than the sum of his class.  Odd.  By noon, I was packed into an uncomfortable school bus seat with an obnoxious woman who stood up the entire ride taking pictures of her daughter...though cute, she seemed as annoyed by her shutter-bug mother, as the rest of us, were.  I spent twenty minutes requiring jittery children to plant their butts on their seats.  To stop pulling each other's hair.  It was loud and oddly damp.

The orchard experience paid for itself in sleepy snuggles with L and apples which I furtively stuffed in my pockets.  I also got a couple more laughs at the shutter-bug who loudly in a foreign language chatted on her cell phone for the entire time we were on the tour.  The tour guide seemed to enjoy her loud squawking during  her demonstration on how cider was made, on how to pick apples from the trees.  This cell phone squawking, shutter bug even managed to bleat louder than the sheep before the class tossed the apple cores into their pen.  Perhaps there should have been a chaperone for that mother rather than for my son?  At least L didn't freely pick his nose and consume it.

The rest of the day was spent making a supper no one would really eat.  In my family's haste to get to their evening activities their plates were barely touched.  The Red Ninja and Red Angry Bird marched out into the night with a harassed looking Pirate.  I'm pretty sure it was my husband.  At least he look familiar.

The rest of the evening will be spent tidying the kitchen, doing a load of laundry and packing lunches.  Putting wired and sugared up children to bed sans costumes.  I will stare at the TV for a minute or two then call it a night.  Hubby already sound asleep.

Eight years ago was the longest fastest day of my life.  The eight years that followed flew by just as fast.  It's true I never imagined life would be quite like this...I'd say it's even better!  It's a good thing we had the forethought to celebrate yesterday with the notion that this day would be too full of living.  It paid off.