Anniversary Bliss

Sunday, my wife and I celebrated our 12th year of being married . . . to each other. By celebrating, I mean in the fashion that two 30-somethings with two children can do: A restaurant with a kid's menu and ice skating for three hours. It seemed very apropos.

What you might think was a very uneventful, unromantic was actually one of the most funnest days (double superlative for affective effect) I've ever had with my whole family that didn't involve someone getting their butt whipped afterward. In other words, it was at least eventful . . .

With our anniversary coming right on the heels of Christmas, it's always hard to find that "perfect" gift for the wife that Santa didn't already bring her. That means this year that pretty anything except new undergarments is fair game. But therein lies the problem. . . what do you get for the woman who has everything (and me)???? This is what made shopping for her at Christmas so difficult. As much as she likes "frugality" as a gift, it sure is uneventful to unwrap it.

That's why this year, I treated her to a day that was exactly what the kids wanted. Just seeing them smile and skate around the rink for hours meant that she didn't have to address their every need. The fact that the ice skating was such a physical activity that the children would but very, very tired and exhausted when we got home was only a bonus. Besides, what better gift is there in life than the pure joy of seeing an innocent child's genuine smile (excluding 50-inch, high-def televisions)??

To make the experience more superb, I treated her to her favorite Mexican restaurant, El Mercado, that we used to frequent way back when we were undergraduates at UT, a restaurant that incidentally served CHICKEN NUGGETS. It really was a win-win situation for me: the kids were happy, I got my long-coveted beef fajita chimichanga drizzled with sour cream like a oven-fresh pastry, and my wife got her tri-colored enchiladas (three different sauces draped PERPENDICULAR to the length of the three wrapped corn tortillas rather than one enchilada per sauce--a subtle but HUGE detail in a successful dining experience.)

Yes, I think it's safe to say the enchiladas are a better anniversary gift that that "Ab Cruncher" I gave her so many naive years ago.

Anyhow, the ice skating thing for a thrill-seeking, foolish maniac like I am (to use "myself" here, although widely spoken is irritably, nonetheless, incorrect) was somewhat muted. Because of my current bad knee, I had to stick with only doing DOUBLE axels and lutzes instead of my usual QUADRUPLE one.

Actually, I was relegated to not the "skater Dad extraordinaire", but rather the "skateless guardian of shoes and purses who takes candid photos of the happy, warm skaters who also saves enough seats during the Zamboni breaks." Because of my bad knee, I had to take pleasure in the vicarious pleasures of my loved ones. It wasn't too hard to do, although sitting inside the giant refrigerator without moving for almost 3 hours (unlike the warm skaters) made my happiness and pleasure a "numb, dull, and frozen" one. A small price to pay for being not only "Husband Supremus" but "Awesome Dad" as well.

The day ended with me thawing out in front of the air vent in the Pathfinder blowing hot air on me during the hour drive home, then carrying my sleeping kids into the house. I didn't know it was possible to smile in your sleep until both my kids helped me discover it.

That evening, in my sleep, I dreamed that I was ice skating hand in hand with my entire family, my kids on the end, an chicken nugget in their free hand. If dreams really do come true, perhaps I was just envisioning the events of my 13th anniversary (which I believe IS the chicken nugget year.)