On August 9th, Daniel and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.
Instead of a
golden birthday* -- we decided this was our "golden" anniversary.
*
The birthday when you turn the same age as your birthdate.
Besides, we were in DC with Grammy and Pop Pop (aka: free babysitters).
Perfect!
So.
Aubrey went to the pool with the grandparents while I showered and got ready at a leisurely pace.
(Glorious.)
As I was putting on my earrings, I heard the doorbell to the apartment ring.
Daniel was standing there with a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers.
It was mix of traditional with an Asian flare.
(He knows my heart is now constantly wedged between the US and China.)
Everything was going swimmingly up until I had the genius idea of walking down to the pool to tell Aubrey goodnight (and to maybe have the grandparents snap an anniversary picture of the two of us looking so good...).
I will not go into full detail as to what unfolded next.
I will say that there was a soaking wet child who decided to have a massive meltdown in front of everyone at the apartment pool.
There was an impressive amount of sobbing and snot.
High-pitched screams.
Thrashing.
Wailing.
It wasn't pretty.
And on that note, we walked to the car with the sound of our child reaching octaves only dogs could now hear.
So...who's hungry?!
Yeah...it kinda zaps all joy and excitement.
After driving through DC rush hour traffic (good times), we arrived at our restaurant destination.
Now we just needed to find a parking spot.
Oooohhh...there's one!
What? The parking meter says "$0.25 for 7 minutes?!" Let's keep looking for something better.
Realizing that was the best option after driving up and down and up and down, we booked it back to the spot before it got snagged.
"YEAH! IT'S STILL THERE!"
As Daniel finagled into the spot, a BMW (no judgment, just observation) turned onto the street.
Feeling rushed to get into the spot so as to not spur a "HONK! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"...
WAAAAAMMM!
Our tire busted on the curb.
Well, fudge.
Daniel decided to change the tire himself.
In his dress clothes.
In 90+ degree heat.
(Well, hello there...)
There was an Ethiopian restaurant right by our parking spot.
The patrons had no idea they were in for dinner AND a show.
One little girl even came outside to watch.
(I can't say I blame her...)
Within no time, the tire was changed.
Too bad our spare was super low on air and poor Daniel was drenched in sweat.
Then we realized the parking meter was broken.
Ha.
We decided "to hell with it" and went on to dinner after sinking five quarters in the meter for only three measly minutes of parking.
Dinner was fabulous.
Daniel ordered a glass of wine.
(I can count on one hand the number of times he's consumed an alcoholic beverage.)
Grabbed some ice cream.
Laughed.
Held hands.
Flirted.
Talked about the past.
Talked about the future.
Talked about nothing.
Talked about everything.
After filling up the spare tire with some air at a gas station, we drove around to see a few of the DC monuments at night, then made our way back to the apartment.
It may not have been the perfect evening...
And this may be the only picture we have of the two of us together on our anniversary...
But when it's all said and done...I'm sure glad I have my soulmate with me on this journey called
Life.
Even if we do hit a few curbs along the way...
