Tuesday 16 April, 2013 :: Happy 19th Anniversary

Then

Tuesday 16th of April, 2013

Today was our nineteenth wedding anniversary, Howie's second goal on the countdown.  (Next goal : Joanne and Ritchie's wedding on the 11th of May.)

Through sheer bloody mindedness Howie literally drags himself out of bed in the mornings into his wheelchair and heads to the kitchen to make coffee for me and organise breakfast for the girls.  So, I opened my eyes to a smile, a coffee and a greeting of  happy anniversary. 

The rest of the morning consisted of getting the girls to school which seems to be an incredible challenge every day.   We also exchanged 'gifts' pre school.  I took on the 'my turn to organise' challenge and suggested that if Howie felt up to it I would wheel him down to the Pier hotel on Beach Street for lunch, so far so good.  Howie said he had sold his vespa and racing bike and asked if that was enough to buy the diamond ring he 'still owed me from our tenth wedding anniversary'.  I suggested he contact Vicky and Kotch to get the details of their friend who could help.  I went one step further and sent the text for him.  Following this we chalked up our first argument for the 20th year of marriage then I left to drive the girls to school.

It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day, perfect for a leisurely walk down to the bay.  We both had a rack of lamb, seven succulent little ribs which were perfectly cooked and a glass of San Pellegrino to toast...  a) our anniversary; b) not having killed each by now; c) the beautiful day; d) the fact that we look just the same as we did on our wedding day; e) all of the above.  

Now

After lunch we strolled and rolled home then headed to MSAC to watch Holly's basketball game, dropped Holly off at gymnastics then had a visit from Jo and Ritchie which was great as getting Howie in and out of the car has become extremely challenging and I'm struggling to lift him in and out. 

Howie at lunch - Pier Hotel, Port Melbourne

The day concluded with time spent chatting to Joanne and Ritchie along with toilet challenges, shower and bed. 

A good day; tiring but good.

Happy Birthday Howie!

As usual Howie and I discussed birthday celebrations and his stance is always 'I don't like celebrating birthdays' mine is 'Too bad I love them, we're doing something!'

The nature of life at the moment is that nothing can be planned so apologies for the late text but when Howie went to bed he seemed pretty well so the coast was clear to send out an invite.  As it turned out he was full of energy and up and about all day so thank you very much to everyone who dropped in, called, sent a card or a message.  

A great day was had by all.   It was warm and sunny then it was raining and then it was sunny and then it rained again, oh that's right we live in Melbourne!  Howie celebrated with a can of A&W root beer and I managed a glass of champagne or two.  The following pics were taken around cake time.  We were enjoying ourselves so much we almost forgot to do the cake which would have been a shame because it was delicious.

So, against the odds Howie has made it to 54.  Next goal is our anniversary on the 16th of April.

 Howie looking longingly at the cake with Kelly (nephew) smiling in the background

Some crowd shots....
<Marlo, Matt, Ronnie, Marlene, James a bit of Ernie and half of my dad. 

 James, Dad, John Crampton, Shane, Michelle, Mum, Kelly, Howie >

<looking longingly at the cake
Mum, Michelle, Piper, LuLu (Marie in the background) and a bit of Holly.

 Blowing out the candles

Birthday song and cake

 Pistachio sponge with dark chocolate ganache from our favourite bakery, Noisette, surrounded with raspberries and blueberries - yum!!

 

Happy Happy smiling family