Twenty five red roses for twenty five years of marriage. Never in my entire life have I gotten this many flowers at once and let me tell you its a heady experience. There was a small box and a card next to them when I came home and even after I opened the small box (think good things come in small packages) I still couldn't take my eyes off the roses. They look like red velvet, they smell like a rose should smell, that heavy, rich fragrance that is so lacking in many over hybridized, mass produced flowers. When people ask why my favorite color has been red for so long I should point to the red rose and ask why not? I'm not even all that good at arranging flowers and these 25 roses had such beauty I could have put them in a coffee can and they would still be perfect.
Meanwhile there's the small box. You never know what's going to be in a small box, but I had a really good hint from part of one of the lines he wrote in the card "a little sparkly" so with fast beating heart and a brain numbed by shock, I opened the box. White gold diamond earrings, the pictures don't begin to do them justice, anymore than the pictures of the flowers show how beautiful they really are, some things are just better with human eyes. Actually everything is better seen thru eyes, but a camera is a good substitute when you can't globe trot to show all your friends. 
Have I ever mentioned how my husband is about gifts. Sometimes its no big deal, like the years we didn't "do" Christmas. We really didn't have the money to do anything except buy for the kids and so we skipped it for ourselves. Then there are the years he does something totally spectacular, like these gifts. The kind that go down in family lore and the kids argue about who gets mom's 25th anniversary diamond earrings. The man never ceases to amaze or surprise. If I were my kids though I would argue over who got to keep the card. Diamonds are great and don't get me wrong I'll fight tooth and nail anyone that tries to take these little babies away, but bottom line...he bought them.
The card on the other hand came from his mind and heart and was written for me specifically and will always be a reminder of how he feels about me. I know him and he doesn't go in for sentimentality or romance, so when he writes something like this it speaks of ALL the things he thinks and never says, because they're locked deep in his heart and he doesn't really know how to say them without coming across so mushy he could be pudding. (The perils of marrying an old fashioned guy full of machismo) I know how he feels, he shows me (almost) daily, but it's still unbelievably nice to have him put it into writing and give it to me with a heart full of love. My favorite part? He said, "I wouldn't give up one day that we've been together, or one that we will have in the next 25 years. Of all the choices I've made in my life, you were truly the very best." It makes me choke up just typing it, but then I am sentimental, romantic and a pudding in a cup!!
Sunday night we went to the Die Kartoffel as planned. (Mike has the pictures on his camera, sorry) Ladenburg is a small town chock full of charm and the restaurant must heavily cater to an American crowd because not only did they speak perfect English (American accent) but half the people in there were American. The beef was (is) Argentinean and as advertised is brought to you raw on a sizzling hot lava rock. You can also order turkey, which Bear did or chicken which none of us did. At first I wasn't quite sure what to do but then I saw other people carving off thin bites and turning them on the rock to cook it, so I emulated them and cooked my bites to my medium to medium rare preference and chowed down. Each steak comes with three dipping sauces to try. A horseradish based one that wasn't to "horsey", a garlic based one and another that was orangey in color that was semisweet and which none of the 4 of us could pin down. We kept forgetting to ask our waitress, the place was packed and she never quit moving so we didn't want to bother her. Bear promised that we could take Allie back when she gets here so I'll ask then what it is made from. The baked potatos were huge and completely buried under an herbed sour cream that was so good that none of us salted, peppered or even put butter on them, they were perfect as is. The salads were a typical German mixed salad. One of these days I'll take a pictures of a German mixed salad because they aren't like an American one that's for sure. Almost all of them have separate little piles and most contain red kidney beans, corn, kraut, and carrots. They also come with house dressing already on them which is usually an oil and vinegar type or a ranch type. Very good but not what most Americans are used too. (I'm not so sure what a mixed garden salad consists of in Canada, England or Australia? Any of you willing to share that one I'd be curious to know the differences.) The good news is that most of the German salads have baby greens or spinach or some other type of green rather than iceberg lettuce. I like iceberg okay, its just not my favorite. After a stroll thru the old town of Ladenburg we headed back here to our place and popped open the bottle of French champagne that we've been saving for our 25th. It was pretty good, I'm not big on champagne so when I say it was pretty good probably some champagne lover is fainting at my lack of appreciation of the finer things in life and our ability to buy champagne from France that is WAY better than the stuff they export. As a side note the Germans keep all the really good beer here as well. See these people are no dummies.
So now you ALL know how the anniversary week went. (Tres magnifique)
Any guesses on what tomorrow is??
Um yeah, my birthday! I told him to not even worry about it....and I mean it too. This man is so firmly in my good graces that not only is this birthday covered so is mother's day, (Not that he EVER does anything for that, I'm not his mom as he is so fond of reminding me as I pick up his dirty socks from the bedroom floor.)
he's covered for Christmas too.
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