A heck of an anniversary!

Once again, Ivey gets all "yeah, yeah, I been busy, traveling, happy, pissy, whiny (and damn I hate being whiny), sorry haven't posted in a while" blah, blah, blah. Truth is, I have in fact, been all of those things. I had actually planned to write a wonderful post yesterday about how much I love Vince. Sunday was our 12th anniversary and we've essentially been celebrating for a week! Whew! But alas, life got in the way in good and bad ways.

So in no particular order, here are a few highlights and lowlights of the last 6 or so days:

1) We had a hell of a celebratory anniversary dinner -- last Wednesday. It's a complicated story that involves screwed up dates, "forgotten" plans, a minor and well-deserved emotional break-down (not me or Vince), multiple restaurant reservations, and ultimately a great dinner with some fantastic friends at an awesome restaurant and at least 4 bottles of very, VERY good wine.

2) Part of the screwed up dinner plans involve Vince booking a two-night gig in Tampa. As part of the screw-up fix-up the band ended up springing for a hotel room for us. (FYI -- we took a few HNT photos at the hotel. I'm thinking this Thursday is going to be a treat for the ladies!) It was the usual sexy dancing, groupie, have (more than a few) glasses of wine and dance, dance, dance event.

On a little side note our "play-dar" was in overdrive. When this band plays out people are constantly buying drinks for the band. When this one couple realized it was our anniversary the asked Vince to bring me over so they could meet me and buy me a drink too. They were funny, hawt, and if they weren't swingers I'll eat my hat. She was hysterical and wonderfully sexy. From the stage Vince was watching her and her friend shimmy their boobs when the songs called for it and he was seriously hoping one or two would fall out. Later, as I was flirting with them both and giving them our email address I complimented her lovely globes and told them about Vince's view. At that point the Mr. reached over and took one out to show me and OMG it was lovely and it was a good thing I'd only had three glasses of wine or I would have .......... really, I think I would've.

So what do y'all think? Swingers? Anyway, I hope they contact us.

3) During the day on Saturday we decided to get our nerd on and headed over to a museum. We discovered a terrific car show happening so strolled around there before checking out the exhibits. This place also had an IMAX theatre and let me tell ya something people, if you have the chance to see the Hubble Telescope IMAX movie do yourself a favor and go. Billions of stars in billions of galaxies and we are just one tiny planet circling one minor star. I love the sensation of being awestruck and I was. I think at one point I got teary with the beauty of it all!

Part of the story was about finally being able to see how stars are born and it was amazing; a cosmic nursery for energy, light, and power and within all of it are the fundamental building blocks of life.

A few hours later we get a text from a close friend of mine whose son was born at 4:01 that afternoon. My nickname for his girlfriend is "the Sun" because she truly personifies life-giving warmth and goodness.

4) We spent Sunday, our actual anniversary, at the appropriately named "Honeymoon Beach." As we walked to the beach we noticed they were setting up for a wedding on the beach later that day. I sincerely hope that bride and groom are as happy as we are twelve years later. We laugh every day. We are almost constantly in one another's presence. We have fun, funny, and wild sex an average of 5 or 6 times a week. We work together, we play together, we are in it to win it together. I've started referring to us as "mostly monogamous" since we are ready and willing to have sex with other people as soon as we can find some suitably sexy-to-us partners. LOL

5) We finally got home and yesterday morning resumed our normal routine which includes our morning bike ride. As we pedaled past my neighbor's house I mentioned that I needed to call and see about going over for a visit. This neighbor has cancer and is currently under hospice care at home. He tried chemo (twice) and it didn't work. I liked to go and hang out with him as much as I could and as much as he was up for. During the chemo months he didn't want to eat much so I made him my best, richest, and highest calorie deserts to take to his house; a bold choice as his beautiful wife of thirty-three years is largely considered the best cook in the neighborhood. We'd just hang out and I'd be as completely inappropriate as possible -- wicked! He loved it! I always wore shorts and a tank top, made sure my make-up was on, and that I looked good. Considering our considerable age difference, religious difference (he is and I'm not), and his poor health, many folks would have frowned on our boob jokes and the stories I'd tell him of our motorcycle treks, business trips, Vince's band adventures and my delighted approval. But he laughed and laughed.

On our bike ride back, when I was planning to call and find out when I could come over, we both got texts telling us that he'd died the previous day, on our anniversary. While we were celebrating our twelve years together and watching another couple launch theirs, his and his beloved wife's thirty-three had come to an end.

So over the past few days a new baby boy joined this life while and old, sick, and very tired man left it. Vince and I celebrated -- with a few good friends -- what we have together, with our minds open to possibilities with new friends and bolder adventures on the horizon. I hope some of those adventures will include some nekkid sexy fun, but all of them I'm sure will be together, and filled with laughter.