I love him so

Our five-year anniversary was marked with a child-free date: a dinner and a movie. To some who go on exotic cruises or even bed-and-breakfasts' it may seem too humble a celebration but to us, it seemed just right. Someday, when we can afford it, we will be able to whittle away money on extravagence-but for now? We are quite content to sip a shared sangria, staring into each others' eyes from across the table while sharing about our hopes for the future, reminiscing about the 'us' of so long ago, and laughing about the antics of our children. Doing those things WITHOUT the interruptions of a needy child (or two) or cutting food on plates, or giving the 'stop it now' look just ADDED to the luxury.

"Our" restaurant is a hidden treasure, tucked away from the 'city' and not on par, at all, with the food chains of today. Oh no no. No red lobster here.

It plays jazz music from way back when. Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frankie. Several songs took me back to the day of my wedding, as I remember them played then too. The rooms were dimly lit-bright enough to see across the room-but a WARM light, that cast a romantic glow to the whole place-and gives the shine in your eyes that much more depth. Victorian Queen Anne furniture fill the floor and the brick walls are graced with lovely oil paintings of ladies and gents dancing together at a ball, or enjooying a ballet or an opera. The fireplace crackles in wintertime but sat still and reserved in the humid and sticky haze of a summer thunderstorm, and yet-still, it wouldn't have been the same without it. The times we had visited before, fresh flowers graced each table. This time, they were silk. I forgive them though, because of the bruschetta.

After dinner, we went to a movie. The BOURNE ultimatum. We killed the fatted calf and got a four dollar box of butterfinger candies and a three dollar icee. Wooweee-did we ever live it large that night!