Anniversary: Year 6.

I've mentioned many a time that David and I don't do gifts very often. I don't expect them and he doesn't expect them. So when it comes to celebrating something... say our wedding anniversary, I like to do something special to celebrate. This is a fairly recent decision. Last year we went (sans children) to Disneyworld. The years before were filled with a movie and a dinner together. Which are nice and if that's all we do to celebrate now and then, that's fine with me too.

This year, sort of last minute, I decided to surprise David with plans. And as I mentioned in the camping excursion, I don't normally plan things. I let other people plan things. Even when we got married, David planned the whole thing... well we 'eloped' to Vegas... but he booked the flight, hotel, rides everywhere, what time we would get there, what time we had to get the marriage license, place to rent a tux, how long we would have to get ready, booked the chapel and minister and limo (they were a group package), planned/bought tickets to the cirque du soleil show we would see etc. He did a really great job. I don't think I ever gave him enough credit for doing all of that.

I rediscovered on the camping trip that David has always wanted to go horseback riding. It's one of those tid bits that he told me about on one of our first few dates that I had forgotten. So I found a place to go horseback riding at. I also decided, because if I had asked he would have probably said 'nah', to book a hotel room. I guess this was more for me. I love hotel rooms because you don't have to clean up after yourself and something about getting out of the house for a special occasion feels special to me. I got a great rate, price of a cheap hotel room, at Hotel Derek...which is a nicer hotel... but really it's like a cheap hotel with modern furniture. Meaning it's the same size and height, same layout, same amenities. I'm glad I didn't pay more for the room.

I did tell David the day before our anniversary. 1)Because I can't keep anything from him... and I don't think that's a bad thing. 2)Because I needed to check his schedule as I was planning all of this for Friday the 1st. I wasn't sure he would be able to get off work in time to go and so I needed to get that arranged and after we arranged it I had him call the horse place to make the reservation because I hate talking on the phone with people, I get nervous and I mumble.

The horseback riding took about an hour to get to. My horse's name was Stormy and David's horse's name was Pepper. Mine was a she, his was a he. Mine was a big strong girl. No doubt to support my weight. They told me to make sure I didn't squeeze her sides because she hates that... even though that's usually how you get a horse to go. I was a little nervous when they laughed about how stubborn she is. I kept thinking, "they know I don't know how to ride a horse, right?" haha. They told me I would have to pull very hard on the reins to get her to obey me... yeah... I was just hoping I could remember what the commands were. We had a guide take us through and it was a lot of fun and gorgeous. The weather has been nice down here and we walked in a wooded shady area next to Cypresswood creek. The horses knew the trail pretty well so there wasn't a whole lot to it. But my horse liked to stop and eat. She would just stop and start eating. David was behind me, he said his horse was very obedient and he just had to barely tug the reins to get him to stop. I would say "come on" make the 'knick' sound and pull the reins in the stopping command...which got the horse to go again lol. Well they told me not to touch her with my feet... what else could I do?

David kept telling me we were leaving little road hazards in his way. lol.

At the end Stormy started to gallop when she saw she was home. Haha, and no matter how hard I tugged she wasn't stopping. I laughed but asked "what do I do?" they said "pull harder!". But she stopped when she wanted to. David said he wishes he could have galloped a bit.

David had such a great time he wants to make that a regular anniversary thing. So on Year 26 we can say "we've been doing this for 20 years now". We don't do gifts, but we do like traditions. Both of us. Thank goodness. We match quite well in that way.

We then headed to the restaurant. We ate at the Grotto. They serve very delicious Italian food. David got the chicken parmigiana and a ceaser salad. Very typical David. I got a small lobster bisque and the fish special...which was salmon, lump crab meat, sesame crusted crab claws all on top of steamed spinach. On the side were 3 freshly made ravioli's stuffed with shrimp, crab and cheese in a lemon sauce. Very typical Diana. We know what we like. The lobster bisque was so good that I was sucking the spoon after each bite. I always forget that I would be happy with just the soup. Because I could not finish the fish, which was also delicious but not nearly as delicious as the bisque.

We then headed to the hotel... which is located directly across the street from the restaurant.

Had a great night.

In the morning we woke up at 8:30 p.m. It felt like it was 10 or so. It was nice to get a full night sleep, that's rare for me. We ordered room service so we could have breakfast in bed. It was ridiciously over-priced, it cost more then our beautiful delicious dinner. All we ordered was one orange juice, huevos rancheros for me, sausage and french toast for David. And once again, it cost more than our dinner. And no it wasn't very good. Mine didn't have much flavor. David's french toast was a bit soggy. But I still love room service.

We checked out at noon. Discovered our window on our fairly new car no longer rolls down correctly. Appears someone tried to hijack it. Great. I am still hoping David contacts the Hotel about this.

Went to the Galleria. Walked around, talked. Ate at La Madeleine. Then we went to see a movie. That was it. We were going to go to the Menil (another one of our first few dates). But they just had the regular collection (which I've seen too many times) and no special exhibits so we passed and saw a movie instead.

I love David. It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together. Sorry I couldn't resist saying it, because it's true.