09-09-09 - Our 4 Year Anniversary

What a strange, but awesome, date!  Could it be lucky?  Maybe we should have bought a lottery ticket today!

Today is our 4 year anniversary!  We both cannot believe how fast the last 4 years have gone by.  Of course, we couldn't go through the day without mentioning Mr. Spock and 6-foot Sally and how things are so different now than when we were with them.  These last 4 years have flown by, especially in comparison to the first four years with Mr. Spock.  So much happier.  Melon Man said something to me tonight during dinner that made me really think...he said how "natural" our marriage feels...like we've been together far longer and like it is the only one.  I totally agreed with him.  Dad, Jennifer, Lisa, and Auntie all called to wish us a happy anniversary.  We are lucky to share our anniversary with Auntie Sigie and Uncle Ward as well...they were married 54 years ago today!

Yesterday, we tried all evening to decide what to do today but could never come up with anything other than going to breakfast at....."The Coral"....where else?  (We tried getting ahold of Tere To see if she was busy today but had to wait for a message with her phone number since we only had Lary's and we thought he was still in Idaho.  We didn't get the number until after we finally got home late in the afternoon.  Oh well, we have it now!)  Super cheap...only $13 for both and that included the drink!  Love their tamales.  Yum.  We had fun making these funny faces at each other while we were eating.  I'm sure all the "sunsetters" that frequent "The Coral" thought we were off our rockers, but oh well.  We were enjoying each other. 

Both of us left there looking like someone poured food on us...Melon Man had syrup stains all down the front of him and I had grease spots on my shirt from the sauteed mushrooms that dripped on me.  Oh well.  We're going to go home and shower and change clothes, right?  Wrong.

As we started to drive home, we just decided to go run our errand we had for the day right then.  So, we decided to head for Cabela's.  Stopped off at the gas station first and these youngish kids pulled up across from us and asked us what we were doing in 30 minutes.  Melon Man said, "Not helping you move."  Well, they weren't planning on moving...they were planning on getting married and wanted us to be witnesses!  We were so caught off guard that we didn't even think to tell them it was our own anniversary!  But, needless to say, we didn't go be witnesses for them.  Uh, no.

So, we headed off to Cabela's.  We looked all around at everything, but alas, we left empty-handed.  The item we had gone for needed to be a specific one.  I'm not saying what the item is just yet because I don't want the person who's going to receive it to know what it is!  So, then Melon Man and I headed for Big 5.  Nope, not there either.  So, then we decided to head to Sportsman's Warehouse...if they were still in business.  We'd heard they filed for bankruptcy.  But, we got there and all was good.  We found the item and were so happy!  We even got to see the world's largest ever taken elk.  It was killed on the San Carlos Indian Reservation here in Arizona.  I bet my little brother, Kev, would love to get an elk this big!

After Sportsman's wearhouse, we were back to asking each other what else we should do today.  Neither of us had showered or even brushed our teeth!  We were a sight...sort of anyway.  I guess we weren't too bad, but....we just felt kind of skanky.

We finally decided to head to Holland Boone.  So, we trucked on over there.  Lovely store.  Had some nice fall/Halloween things, but just decided not to buy anything.  Amazing!  Me?  Not buy anything at HB?  I MUST be off my rocker!  I don't know...I just didn't feel like anything really grabbed me.  Plus...a lot of the stuff they had there is also available at Real Deals ... for less. 

After Holland Boone, we went to Carefree/Cave Creek.  As we were driving into town, we looked around and found the English Rose Tea Room. 

Lisa and I had gone there years ago with our moms when my mom was in town.  The owner has now opened a quaint little shop next to her tea room.  We walked in to see what it was like, but it is too froo-froo for my style.  I did look for some candlestick drip protectors with the little jewels hanging down like Lisa has, but couldn't find any that weren't already a part of a candelabra.  Oh well!  No biggie!  Not important.

From there, we headed to...

Yes, the Town Dump.  Seriously, it does look like a dump.  But, inside, there is all kinds of stuff...mexican pottery, mexican tiles, etc., etc.  Outside, there is a TON (or really more!) of rusty metal yardstuff.  I saw some AWESOME gates there that I'd love to have, but I don't think the HOA would allow us to change ours.  Plus, I don't really want everyone being able to see down our side yard.  Now, if we had a little courtyard or such that we could put them in as the entry gate, that would be beautiful!  The attitude at the store wasn't too nice though and that kind of turned us off.  They never said hi, bye, or anything.  They had signs everywhere saying "Prices are firm!" or "We don't want to hear your stupid cell phone conversations so take your calls outside!"  Rude.  Granted, I don't want to hear everyone's cell phone calls either, but seriously...it's not a restaurant or a library!  I mean, what if you're trying to tell someone about an item you found in the store?  Are you supposed to take it outside and describe it to the person on the phone?  Nope...can't do that because there's a sign about that too.  Won't be going back there again!

Next, we were off to the Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped ice cream cone.  I was still so full from breakfast that I didn't want one, but Melon Man did so we stopped.  After watching him eat his large chocolate dipped cone, I finally decided I would have a small one.  Plus...it was cold and I was burning up.  I had not been able to cool down for two hours.  The ice cream and the cup of cold water definitely helped. 

We were then off to The Mad Scrappers scrapbook store.  I'd never been there before, but Lisa has told me all about it.  Before we went in to the scrapbook store, however, we went into the little pet store next door. I would have loved to have taken the dogs in there...they had all kinds of little sample treats! We ended up just browsing and that was okay.  

So, off to the scrapbook store next door.  I don't think I've EVER seen so much scrapbook stuff in one little store before!  Oh my.  It was EVERYWHERE!  Floor to ceiling, corner to corner.  I only spent $15 though - bought some binding wire for my Bind-It-All and an Ohio travel sticker set.  I figured why buy a ton of other stuff...I haven't scrapbooked but like twice in the last 4 years!  I have a whole room to do it in but just haven't.  (I have convention coming up on October 2nd, so maybe that will inspire me.) 

Now, at this point, Melon Man makes some snide comment about how I've bought stuff here and there and yet again, he's not been allowed to spend any money.  WHAT?!?!?  He just laughs and walks off...silly boy you.  I don't prevent you from spending money.  You just like really expensive guns and such.  I've spent...uh...$15.

So, next, we start to make our way back to our side of town...but we decide to head to a restaurant supply store.  I've been wanting some good spatulas - but inexpensive ones.  You know...the good RUBBERMAID ones that are flexible and such.  Not those hard plastic ones.  Plus, I need a wide mouth funnel.  We finally find Big Pan Restaurant Supply and head in.  Ew...the smell of the place was disgusting.  And...not surprisingly...it was warm in there.  I bet they had the air on like 85 degrees.  I was sweating to death...again.  I kept looking at pots and pans and Melon Man asked me why.  I asked him if he had ever seen Jungle to Jungle.  He thought so but wanted to know how that answered his question.  I reminded him that in Lipo Lipo you give a pot as a token of love and affection to the girl you love.  Yeah, he just said, "Hmmm" and walked away.  Such a romantic, isn't he!?!?! 

I found the only 4 regular size inexpensive spatulas they had.  They weren't the brand I wanted, but they will do until I can find the ones I really want.  I also got a huge frosting tip, a new plug for our olive oil thingy, and a wok pan.  And, it all only came to ... again, $15! 

Off we went....outside into the fresh air again where it actually felt cooler than inside the store even though it was 103*.  We next went in search of my funnel.  We were going to go to Harbor Freight and see if maybe they had one, but we stopped at the car wash instead.  My truck was just really dirty.  Melon Man did the whole handwash thing and just as he started to spray the soap off my side, he ran out of time...and money.  We didn't have enough change or dollars to get the machine going again! 

So, our little $3 car wash turned into a $9 car wash because then we had to go through the automated one so we could use plastic to pay for a wash (get all the soap off!).  Oh well, there was a guy who dried everything off after we came out and so that was nice.

We finally headed to our last stop...the Bosch store.  I thought that JUST MAYBE they might have the funnel....and they did!  Now, the lady in the store was NOT very friendly, but at least I found what I needed, so that was good.  I also found the lecithin powder I needed there too but it was kind of pricey so I didn't get it.

We headed for home and came in and just kind of pooped out for a bit before heading out for dinner.  Melon Man watched some shows on his favorite channels and I worked on the computer and read blogs.  Then, Dog had one of his seizures again.  I'm so glad we've figured out how to make it end faster!

Finally, we got hungry about 8 pm and we decided to head to one of our least favorite restaurants...Red Lobster...only because they were having endless shrimp and we thought it would be good.  Long story short, it was okay, but it reminded us why we don't go there anymore.  So...we've decided we're going out for MEAT (aka Prime Rib, steak, etc) on Saturday to make up for it.

We came home and it is late, so we're headed off to bed...

It was a nice, fun, anniversary and I was so GRATEFUL that we were able to spend the entire day together.  I love you, Melon Man.