What really surprised us was our in-laws' gift to us. My mother-in-law (I think we're not supposed to get along, traditionally, but in reality, she's hella cool) made us a cross-stitch sampler celebrating our wedding day -- a heart-shaped wreath of pansies with our names and our wedding day stitched in the middle. It is so pretty. She said that the reason why she made it for us was because she knows how much I cross-stitch and figured I could use something for my house that wasn't cross-stitched by me!! Such a lovely lady.
I have received other congratulations on not killing my husband in the last three hundred and sixty-six (now) days. My mother informed me she has a card all ready to go (the first anniversary IS traditionally celebrated with paper), but she figured she'd see us sometime this weekend so she didn't mail it. My sister sent congratulations through email, which I suppose could count as the modern form of the traditional paper.
What really bothers me is my parents decided not to acknowledge my anniversary. Now, to give them the benefit of the doubt, there could be a card in the mail that won't get here till Tuesday (isn't that a band??), but I won't be holding my breath. Since I'm out of home, I am now out of mind. I was already informed once I moved out of my father's house that there shall be no more gift-giving to me, at least as far as birthdays, and Christmas is questionable.
All I wanted was some acknowledgement. An email would suffice. But I suppose since my stepmother wasn't at my wedding (she couldn't leave her dog for a few hours because he was still a puppy), she wouldn't remember my wedding date.
Which I still think is rather unfair -- I had to go to HER wedding. Of course, I was the ring-bearer, since there were no boys in either family at the time, but still. Isn't there a rule that states that when you go to a function you've been invited to, that you then invite that person to one of your functions, and they are expected to attend? It worked that way with my former co-worker -- she came to my reception, I went to her wedding. Quite a beautiful one it was, too.
You know, one of these days I would like to tell a whole mess of people off. The problem is I'm way too nice of a person to do that to someone else. I know too well the pain of personal rejection and hatred, and I can't do that to another person. But once, I would love to bust out of this damn shell I'm living in, and tell everyone to go to hell! And not have to worry about the consequences.
Maybe one day I will...
Anyhow.
Back to our anniversary which was oh so lovely. Kurt and I went exploring around the area Saturday afternoon and ended up at an army base that we hadn't been to. I was driving my car, and I had an inkling of what we were going to find, but I really wasn't prepared when I turned a corner and right in front of me was the two historic Cape Henry lighthouses. I mean, RIGHT THERE. So we parked, and I took photos, and I still couldn't believe that I was so close to not just one, but TWO lighthouses. I'm so used to seeing them on t-shirts and totebags and little souvenirs, that seeing them in the flesh, as it were, was rather amazing.
My mother was so jealous. :o) She's a lighthouse fanatic.
We went out to dinner at this fancy restaurant downtown, and when Kurt had made the reservations they had asked if it were a special occasion. Of course, he told them it was our anniversary, and when we arrived and gave our name, the hostess congratulated us on our happy day. Kurt and I both got seafood dishes -- he went for the seafood paella, with bits of octopus scattered in among the more common seafood, and I got the seafood fantasia, which featured fresh pasta. I'd never had fresh pasta before, and it was SO good. I even tried a bit of Kurt's octopus, which was rather gross as it still had its little suction cups on it. Yuck. It tasted like the rest of the dish, though, the way tofu takes on the taste of whatever you cook it in. Once we finished, the waitress brought us a souvenir glass and a single rose in a vase for us to take with us. I was expecting maybe a free dessert, but certainly not glassware!! So we now have tangible reminders of our first anniversary, which makes going there just a little more special. :o)
But in other news... My boss called yesterday. Our company had another court date and ruled apparently for the other side. I don't quite have all the particulars because every time I asked for clarification, he misunderstood what I asking about. Plus he's not too easy to understand over the telephone. I'm certainly not happy about the outcome, but I know there will be more opportunities. So now I'm just going to wait and see. Things will work out...