Happy 10 Years

Yesterday was our 10th anniversary -- isn't that amazing? We were talking about it -- does it feel like ten years? Yes and no. In some ways no, because time goes so fast now that we're older. In other ways no, because it's been such an eventful ten years that it feels like about TWENTY. But I guess mainly it does feel like ten years, ten very memorable years.

We spent the first five years getting to know each other, learning how to live together, surviving death after death after death in my family and Rocket Boy's, and struggling with infertility. I got pregnant about a month before our fifth anniversary, so the last five years have been BABY BABY BABY BABY TODDLER TODDLER TODDLER TODDLER, not to mention Ridgecrest. It's been a busy time.

And NOT an entirely happy time, to say the least. I had such a hard time choosing an anniversary card. There were no cards that said (as my sister put it) "marriage is so much harder than we both thought it would be but we're in it for the long haul" or (as I put it) "it's been a bit rough but I'm glad we've stuck it out." All the cards (at K-Mart, OK, maybe they would have been better at Wal-Mart, not) were super flowery, to the point of being very annoying. I finally found a card that was short and sweet -- no mention of the tough times, but nothing about "every breath I take I think of you I was nothing until I met you blah blah blah."

It was beastly hot yesterday (over 110), not to mention humid (there are storm clouds around, though no actual storms), and even our air conditioner couldn't handle it very well. I had it set on 75, but it registered 80 all day (and wouldn't shut off -- kept roaring on and on, trying to get to 75). When getting ready to go out, I put on a white dress with a little blue shrug and immediately started to sweat. My hands were so puffy I could barely get my engagement ring on (I don't usually wear it). But I persevered.

The babysitter arrived -- actually two babysitters, teenage sisters a year apart, very nice girls. Boo bears were overwhelmed and delighted and flirtatious, so we felt comfortable leaving them. (Later we learned that the girls actually gave them a BATH -- in the morning we asked them about it -- you got naked with those girls? Yes, they said, pointing, our clothes are on the floor. So nice to be so innocent.)

Rocket Boy and I went to Maddy's Cottage, which we think has some of the best food in town. We both had iced tea, garlic tomato soup, and shrimp scampi, and for dessert we shared chocolate mousse and creme brulee. We brought our cards and gifts (I had gotten some little things in tins, since tin is the traditional 10th anniversary gift) into the restaurant and opened them there and displayed them on our table, so the waitress asked us what the occasion was, and for that, our chocolate mousse was free. Rocket Boy was concerned that someone might think we were faking having an anniversary in order to get free chocolate mousse, but I pointed out that the two anniversary cards together cost as much as the chocolate mousse, not to mention the presents, so it would have been a rather expensive way to get a free dessert!

After dinner we drove over to the warehouse on the northeast side of town, where Ridgecrest's Community Light Opera and Theatre Association (CLOTA) has its headquarters. This was our first CLOTA experience, and now I think we will try to go again, if we're still here when they do their next show. It's a small space, probably room for no more than about 100 audience members (I'd say there were about 25 last night). But that's fun because it's so intimate. The only problem was that it was SO BEASTLY HOT that they had multiple cooling devices going (A/C, fans), but that meant you couldn't hear the actors. So they turned some of the cooling devices off when the play started. But that meant it got hot, plus you still couldn't hear the actors too well because some of the fans were still going. Despite all that, we enjoyed the play very much (they did "Arms and the Man" which I'd never seen), though we worried about the actors in their hot costumes.

The play ended a few minutes before 9:30 and we rushed home to pay the babysitters (their mother drove up to pick them up right then). Then we had a glass of wine and a chocolate bar and watched some of the Olympics on TV. It was a fun time.

Today wasn't, today was awful. But I'm holding on to yesterday, trying to remember that the bad times end and there are always good times around the corner. The fact that there are also more bad times around the corner is not interesting. We live for the good times. (Despite being a depressive, I am an optimist. It is an interesting combination.) So here we go for another year!