Looking Forward

Jason and I celebrated our 4th anniversary in Cleveland. I would have preferred a beach, alone, but The Melting Pot was nice as well. Z stayed with her grandmas--I call them the Screaming Grammys. The mother-daughter duo are rather loud when put together. I guess they've always been that way. (The Screaming Mimis are in The Yellow Submarine--in case you were wondering).

J did well on the gift front. I got VERY cool bracelet from an art house jewler on East Ave. in Rochester. He also soared with the card. Very sweet and well written. It was a great evening. I focused my gifts on our wine collection with glasses and accessories. He seemed to like them. We talked, laughed and had two martinis a piece. A really good Key Lime Martini is so hard to come by and it was so outstanding, I had two. It's my favorite. It's great to be alone and just focus on each other. We are best friends. I think this evolved from starting out as friends and having really no boundaries as to what we can share with the other. I can talk about anything with him. He's more reserved, but he doesn't have an issue listening to me. We have struggles and at times they can take us over, but when we really focus on the other, we return to our base. We were friends for years before we ever dated. We gave each other love advice and hung out occasionally in Chicago. Then, we became roommates. The friendship turned into more. It was probably the easiest relationship I'd had.  When it starts out difficult...it just stays that way.  I think the years of friendship discovering our interests were so similar really has helped our marriage. We probably focus more on our friendship than the romance. We're working harder on that. I think the day to day can zap the romance out of you. The friendship seems to take over in order to get through it all. But, finally....we'll have a date to bring us together again romantically.

I think another thing we focus on is making sure we have events in our lives that we can look forward to. We have many things planned in the months to come. This makes the daily grind bearable. I feel it's important to have planned happy times in the near future. It's a great way to go through life. Yes, the day to day crap can get to you--and it's necessary. Sadly, we haven't figured out how to go through life without working and making money. The babies also haven't figured out how to raise themselves. But, to make sure you have some mental relief helps. So far, we have a family trip to Lake Placid and a bonus good friend that's meeting us there. That happens July 4th. (BTW, if you ever get the chance to see Lake Placid and that charming town, you should go.) Later in July, my 16 year old niece is coming with my mom and we are have a quick trip to NYC for a walk in Central Park and a Broadway show. Neither of them have been there before. Kendra will attend a 2 wk drama camp in Rochester. The rest of her family will arrive for her final performance. We'll have guests for a month or so when it's all said and done. Whew! Labor Day is shaping up and a Girl Weekend is almost set for Sept. I'm very happy about this. Staying connected to women who knew you as a girl is important to me. I've gone through many challenges and was S L O W to mature...and these girls stuck through it with me. Love them.

Z and I are off to Little Gym...we've got to go!!

The picture is Z, J and me at the Memorial Day parade in Pittsford, NY.