Refreshment

Don and I had a wonderful weekend. Our suite at the Bed and Breakfast was lovely and we chose an excellent bottle of wine from the restaurant's stock for our complimentary anniversary bottle. We took it, chilled, back to our room where two wine glasses and a stainless bucket were waiting for us. We iced it down, popped the cork to let it breathe a little, then I drank half a bottle while we putzied around getting ready for dinner. We went for a walk around the grounds and I had a nice swim before showering and doing my hair.

When we returned from dinner, I called the children, then piled the pillows on the foot of the King bed. We laid on our bellies, propped up, in front of the TV and watched one of our favorite shows on Sci-Fi (which we never get to see because we don't have cable). As a special anniversary present, the restaurant that's part of the estate had given us a platter with two desserts of our choice to take back to our room. Don had cheesecake drizzled with chocolate and raspberry sauce. Later, after my dinner wore off, I wanted my keylime pie with a cup of coffee, but couldn't find any decaf anywhere in the kitchen, so I settled for a lovely cup of peppermint tea. It was so good, I had a second, and was completely comfortable rambling around the manor house finding what I needed. It was a really fun evening.

The next morning, Don whispered gently in my ear that it was almost time for breakfast and I needed to get up. He had already showered and dressed and had been downstairs talking with the Innkeeper. He made sure they put on decaf coffee for me and hung out visiting for a while so as not to disturb my slumber. I dressed quickly and we had a wonderful meal on the verandah of the manor house, complete with a full carafe of decaf coffee. We lingered for quite some time, looking at the antiques and relaxing. Then we went back upstairs where I sprawled on the bed and read some magazines - something absolutely unheard of at home.

The night before, at dinner, the folks at the hotel told us that there was no check-out time if no on was coming into our room for the next night, which was the case. So we were in no hurry to get home. When we finally did leave, we stopped at a Christian bookstore and spent about two hours looking for a book on a particular subject, something we could never have done with the children in tow.

Even Don admitted that he had a wonderful time and recognized the need for us to escape every so often. Although it was amazing being alone with my husband, an even better benefit of getting away was having no chores to do. Even when we go out to dinner together, we get a 2 or 3-hour break but have to return to clean up the kitchen, get children in bed, do the dishes, and any number of other motherly responsibilities. To lay on a bed and read without any time pressures was an indulgence I never have.

I'm all the more convinced that Don is my soulmate. A friend of mine used to talk about women as "the gorilla his dreams". By that reasoning, Don must be "the man-o'-war my dreams". Life with him just keeps getting better, and this weekend proved that.

I feel refreshed. By Saturday afternoon, I couldn't wait to get home to the children. I didn't even mind cooking a nice meal and cleaning up afterwards. I feel closer to Don than I've felt in a while. Life is good and marriage to Don is exceptional.

Isn't it something what a little alone-time for do for a person and a marriage. We'll have to schedule a little more of it in the future.