Our 2nd Anniversary

     Mc and I have been married for 8 years today, and since we got married on leap year day, then today was our 2nd wedding anniversary.  :)

     Mc took the day off of work so we could spend the day together.  We got a babysitter for the kids and went to a movie at the local Cinebarre, which is a theater and restaurant combined.  You take your seat in the theater and look at the menu on the table in front of you, and a server comes by and takes your order and then brings you your food, and you can order other things throughout the movie.  The Cinebarre is 21+ years old because they serve alcohol.  This was our first time there and it was a good experience, and the movie was great, too.

     Last week was my birthday, but I didn't write anything about it because it was pretty much like any other Tuesday.  I did the morning routine with the kids, took them to their swimming class in the afternoon, and did a bit of cleaning.  We did go out to dinner at Olive Garden, though.  The main course was okay, but the salad and breadsticks were as good as ever, and their cheesecake was delicious!

     The big thing Mc did for my birthday was actually the Saturday before my birthday.  He gave me a surprise present for my birthday and our anniversary combined: he bought me a piano!  :D

     I've wanted a piano for a few years now, and when we moved into this house I saw the perfect place for it.  But we didn't have enough money at the time, so I put it out of my mind.  But then on that Saturday he drove me to a place nearby that sells refurbished and restored pianos for a pretty good price, and I picked the one I liked best within our price range.

     I was hoping the piano guy would have it here by today so I could post a picture of it, too, but it's not here yet.  When we bought the piano I requested that the guy install a sound dampener inside so that I can muffle the sound.  The kids will inevitably go at it and the sound will undoubtedly give me headaches.  When they get older I'll take it out, but as long as they're this young I need the sound dampener in it.

     So I don't have a picture of it yet, but I can at least describe it, and I'll post a picture as soon as the piano gets here.  It's an upright piano, and it's white with curvy front legs and a pretty curved design on the face of it.  White pianos aren't popular, and the guy had only one in his showroom, but when I saw it I thought it was pretty and it had something in particular that I was looking for: sturdy front legs so the kids won't snap off the legs if they accidentally fall against them or whatever.  It won't be too big for the space I had in mind for it, and the white color will go well with the rest of the room.  He gave me a small discount on it because white pianos are hard to sell--sometimes it takes years to sell one--and he'd already had that one in his showroom for 6 months.  I think he was glad he could sell it.  ;)

     I won't be learning the piano from scratch.  I took piano lessons as a kid but stopped after a year or so because I didn't like to practice (and the teacher could always tell), so it was becoming a waste of money.  But the piano is one of the few musical instruments that touches my soul when I hear a beautiful song played on it, and I'm looking to do things in life that bring me joy, so I want to get better at playing the piano.  I think it will help me relax.  Essentially I'm picking up where I left off about 25 years ago, but I'm excited and looking forward to it!  I've already picked out some sheet music for it, and even the thought of starting to play makes me happy.  :D