20

December is a busy, or brutal, depending on your perspective, month of celebrations, particularly for us. But today's celebration, our 20th wedding anniversary, was worth it.

It's been a good day. We awoke to the sounds of rain, which only meant it had warmed up. We are living in a psychotic weather world right now, I mean Sybil had fewer personalities than our weather has - two days ago, we had three feet of snowdrifts and ice so treacherous you couldn't drive. Today, it was 55 degrees and rained most of the day. This 'heat wave' put the world in a whole new light for my wife. She was overjoyed, so the day started well. The kids slept in too and Beijing wasn't her usual barking annoying AM self. More good karma.

I then took off to get an anniversary gift, in spite of the fact that we had said we weren't doing gifts. We made our trip to Australia earlier this year our gift, but really, how often does a 20 year anniversary come around? Not that much, so I felt it had to be honored. So off to the land of the little blue box...Tiffany & Co. I managed to find something nice and that did NOT require a second mortgage.

I figured I need to get a haircut too so I could look presentable on this most auspicious occasion. I've ranted before about the fact that I can't find a good, inexpensive barber in the Chicagoland 'burbs and that I've been stuck at the various franchised haircutting mills, which I believe are where Satan keeps most of his stylists on retainer. Well, once again, my 'stylist,' and I use that word loosely, had a whole lot of mileage on the engine, as it were, and it was just a lousy experience. I have now decided to bite the bullet and just go to one of the local barbers in my 'burb and pay the cash premium. I can't take one more of these train wrecks using my scalp as a proving ground for how easy it is to use the clippers...

So that didn't go so well. I did decide, since it is our 20th, that the occasion merited flowers - even red roses. I want to point out that in the 20 years we've been married, you can now, including today, count on one hand the number of times I've given the stunningly patient SML flowers. I also will go on record that I reminded SML as I presented her with said roses that this did not represent a break in my lack of romance nor was this an indication that I might be softening my stance on the stupidest day of the year, Valentines Day. She was cool with that.

Then the day got mundane. I got all 'Hazel' and did all the ironing and then marched off to the grocery store. Nothing says lovin' like doing the groceries.

We did cap our evening with dinner. We had intended to go into the City but again, the weather is not cooperating. Walking down Michigan Avenue in the rain just wasn't what we had planned. So we had dinner at Mortons and man, was it good! We had a booth and spent most of the evening recalling things, some little and some big, that we've experienced over the years. Let me just say that dinner was fantastic - the bacon-wrapped scallop with the apricot chutney - amazing! Is there anything that bacon CAN'T improve? Our steaks were really fantastic (and for the coin I laid out, they better have been!) and the service was terrific.

As we talked this evening, we marveled at how blessed we've been. I almost didn't want to talk about it so as to not jinx things. But we have been so, so blessed. Our children are healthy and doing well. We have landed well with each of our moves. We've been all over the world together. And we like each other. We really, really like each other. More than a couple of people have commented on how different SML and I are but those differences have complimented the other and serve us well.

It hardly seems real that twenty years have gone by but they have and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine what the next twenty will bring but I'm just glad the stunningly patient SML will be along for the ride. She really is the love of my life. She has to be, because, as my mother says to this day, "She has to love you because I don't know who else would put up with you."