Antithesis

Yesterday, Steve and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. The last eight years have been a roller coaster ride ... never a dull moment. It's a good thing I like roller coasters.

We decided to recognize the day simply. No gifts, just dinner and time together. We went to a restaurant we've been wanting to try ever since we moved here, a Brazilian steak house called Rafain Churrascaria. This is NOT a restaurant for Ian. It could be one for Ainsley when she is a little more consistent in using appropriate dining utensils. The place is dripping with meat! Delicious, juicy, cooked-to-perfection animal flesh.

Periodically through the meal we would comment on how much my father would love the place. The wine list reads like a novel with labels from around the world. We each tried a different Brazilian wine, both were excellent and paired well with each course. The salad bar, obviously, is self-serve and boasts everything EXCEPT traditional salad. Artichokes, olives, huge blocks of cheese, roasted red peppers, steamed asparagus, and a few things I didn't recognize. For the main course: meat, and lots of it! Servers bring huge skewers of beef, pork, sausage, and lamb cooked sixteen different ways to your table and offer petite slices of each. It's perfect! I only sampled five, but Steve did his best to try as many as he could. I was saving room for dessert, which included too many choices on a bar at the front of the restaurant. Ian and Ainsley would have camped out there, had we chosen to bring them. That will NOT be happening any time soon.

Steve and I both awoke this morning later than usual and commented that we still felt full from last night's dinner. I am not sure that is a good thing, unless we spend the day working out. Steve can if he wants to. I am going to relax and enjoy my last Friday of peace and quiet until August 29th - the first Friday of the school year. [sigh]

We rarely take time to recognize we are a couple. With two challenging kids, it just isn't possible as often as is truly necessary to make a marriage work, which is probably one of the reasons so many couples in our situation end up divorced. Another reason is lack of communication. We are guilty of that, too. Surprisingly though, it only takes a couple of hours of NOT discussing the kids to recognize that a good relationship doesn't erode just because difficult times hit. The strength that kept us going when we were poor graduate students keeps us working hard to make our family successful. I don't always see that, especially when I am really stressed out; but it's nice to know I can always rely on that invisible force that brought us together to begin with.