Our Second "First Date"

I stated in my first post that I knew there might be something in it for me if I postponed "nagging" for a year. Well, it didn't take long to reap my first reward.

I referred to our first date. It was on March 3, 1967 and I was a reluctant participant. Therefore, when Joe took me to The Marine Room (part of the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club) and we were seated at a window table looking out on the crashing waves of the Pacific, I decided to make the most of this blind date. I never looked at the right column and I found out later that my lobster dinner had used all but $5 of his monthly discretionary funds. The conversation that evening revolved around a package of Polish sausage that had been delivered to Joe while he was on temporary duty away from San Diego. After about five days its increasingly unpleasant aroma led his roommate, Pete, to open the box without permission. I had been introduced to kielbasa at my roommate, Francie's, wedding the previous year so I was able to join in this gastronomic conversation. With my knowledge of pieroghi (the Slovak answer to ravioli), I clinched a place in his heart.

Fast forward to May 1, 2008...Joe's first full day of retirement. He had asked me not to make any plans for the day because he had a surprise. That was an understatement. He planned every minute of the day, beginning with brunch at the Four Seasons Aviara Resort. The photo at the top of this blog is from that brunch. After brunch we went to the movies and saw "Baby Mama" (definitely a "chick flick"). We have a deal that if I pick a movie and it's too too "girly", Joe gets the next three picks. It works the other way around too. Last year I walked out on "Inglorious Bastards" after ten minutes. Couldn't handle the blood and gore. So I got three picks.

To top off this mega-date, after the movie, Joe scheduled massages for both of us. I remember thinking, "If this is retirement, I wish he had done it a lot sooner." Of course, like our very first date and the lobster, I knew this wasn't going to become a habit. But, it certainly was a wonderful first day of the rest of our lives.

I promised a shorter post this time. My first post was a rule for wives..."give up nagging". This is a rule for husbands: "spoil your wife".

Next time: Rule #3...fill the calendar.

I'm just getting the hang of this blogger thing and publicity is slow, but I'm doing some fine-tuning and hope to pick up more readers. I'd love to hear your "first day of the rest of your life" stories.