It was a bittersweet day. Yesterday, November 4, was our seventh wedding anniversary. I had to work my normal 8 hour shift during the day, but did not have to work late. I was working, and got thinking about the wedding. That led to thinking about the videotape of the wedding that we have. And that led to tears. My late grandmother stood in for Jay's mother (who couldn't be here from West Virginia) to light the candle for Jay that his mother would have lit. My mother lit the other one for me. Thinking about my grandmother made me cry, because November 4 is also the third anniversary of her funeral. Fortunately, the tears didn't last too long, so I was able to keep working.

Since money is really tight, I didn't expect material presents. Jay had some plans I didn't know about, though. He sent me an e card of a kitten (his nickname for me) holding a rose, and wrote, "I'm hoping for seven more (decades, that is." Also we got cute e cards from his mom and sister.

We planned to go out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. While I was in the shower, Jay went to call another restaurant to ask some questons, and seemed to take a while doing so, but I didn't think much of it. When we were ready to leave, we found that a neighbor had left his vehicle blocking the end of the ramp to the parking lot, so Jay finally went in search of someone to move the vehicle, and we were on our way. When we arrived at the restaurant, we had to wait for someone to move a van so we could park. Finally, we made it into the restaurant. I'm looking forward to a nice dinner for two...and Lauren, Dylan and Keith (Lauren's fiance and Dylan's dad) walked in! They had dinner with us, which was great fun. Dylan enjoyed fingerpainting with the cheese dip, and even ate a few chips and some of my dinner as well. And, Dylan really can sign "please" and "thank you". He wore his halloween costume into the restaurant, since we hadn't seen it yet, but it was quickly removed because it was too warrm.

At the end of the meal, all of the waiters came to our table with dessert, and announced to everyone that it was our anniversary, which was a surprise that Jay arranged. They even used chocolate syrup to spell "Happy Anniversary" on the rim of the dessert plate.

The part I appreciate most is Jay's thoughtfulness in doing these things. He told Lauren I had been a little sad because of my grandmother, and seeing her and Dylan and Keith would help me feel better, which it certainly did. None of the things he thought of past dinner, which we'd already planned for anyway, cost anything, which only made them more meaningful. I truly did feel loved, cherished and valued.

Then, after dinner, it was home to spend some quiet romantic time; we even had champagne. I don't think I could have asked for a better anniversary, on balance.