how to celebrate an anniversary

• dole out child to three different grandmas
• pack up the car with essentials and drive north, ignoring the "maintenance required" light on in the dash
• spontaneously stop in longview, washington for sourdough pancakes at a diner adorned with americana. think of the ani song "little plastic castles--"

And the sight of your sleepy smile
Eclipsed all the other people
As they paused to sneer at the two girls 

from out of town

I said, look at you this morning

You are, by far, the cutest

But be careful getting coffee

I think these people want to shoot us

except that the people were actually quite nice, and didn't even try to shoot us once!

• drive another 100 miles, and make a u-turn when you see a sign that says "puppies for sale." if you're anne, clarify that we are NOT getting a puppy before getting out of the car

• drive away yearning for the puppy that was trying to bite off your foot

• notice tulip fields nearby and ask strangers to take your picture; romp around for awhile

• end up in mossyrock, WA, chasing a farmer's market that doesn't exist, and instead go to a flea market and get a pedicure. count how many times people in town refer to your wife as "he."

• begin missing your kid because you've been away from her for several hours now, even though several hours ago you couldn't wait to get away from her. also begin impersonating the dog.

• keep driving west, heading towards mt. rainier national forest. pass by a christian transformation center and actually discuss checking in to stage a homo exorcism, just for fun.

• arrive at wellspring and spend the next 24 hours with your sweetie in the woods. hike around a while and eat snacks. talk about the future and a little bit of the past. wake up in a cabin next to a chatty stream and the one you love.

thanks for the all the magic and the grit of the last ten years, annie. here's a toast to our next decade...