48th Wedding Anniversary

 

Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. We had talked about going to a seafood restaurant in Fort Wayne, but we have been to that city so many times in the past month (and still more to come) for medical appointments and procedures that we decided to eat closer to home at Noa Noa Wood Grill in Warsaw. Though the food is a bit on the expensive side, the dress code allows casual items like jeans and shorts. However, I decided to dress up a bit.

We had a reservation for 6 p.m. We could not believe how full the parking lot was. The restaurant was mobbed for a Wednesday night. Turns out that because it is close to the Wagon Wheel Theater, people dine there before going to the show. Things emptied out some and got much quieter around 7 p.m.

I wanted the halibut, but they did not have halibut available tonight. So, I ended up with snapper. It had a mango sauce, but it did not taste like nor look like mango. It looked like brown gravy. It came with rice, summer vegetables, and a piece of grilled pineapple. I thought we would share a piece of Key lime pie, but my husband said he wanted us to each have our own.

It was delicious. It must have had coconut added into the graham cracker crust as well as toasted coconut on top. I was pretty full after the entree even though I did not eat all of the rice. I finished the pie. 

Just a smear of whipped cream, a few crumbs, and the lime garnish were all that remained. And happy memories of celebrating our 1977 wedding.

A Rough Time

 I stayed in the hospital 2 nights after my Wednesday afternoon surgery. I was expecting the first night because of the drain in my back. However, I had nausea (mainly dry heaves) which would not stop. When I was in the hospital room that evening, the nurse gave me benadryl to stop the nausea. She said this is the only hospital she knows that uses the drug that way, and she has no idea why it works. She has been nursing for 30 years. The benadryl made me fall asleep, and when I woke in 1 1/2 hours the nausea was gone. 

There were some surprises. My Thursday morning bloodwork showed high blood sugar; they ended up giving me some insulin. I have never been told I am hyperglycemic before this. Friday the level was sort of high, but not enough for more insulin. I could pee but only in dribbles. Too much urine retention and too much blood drainage to be released so a second night (Thursday) in the hospital. 

Friday morning the surgeon's nurse practitioner told me she thought I would be staying a third night (Friday). The hospital case worker came to my room and said my status had been changed from observation to in-patient. I had to read my patient's rights as in-patient and sign a form.

 I was given several meds to increase urine output. Finally, the surgeon's office and the Orthopedic Hospital hospitalist (doctor) came to an agreement that I would leave Friday but with a catheter. 

I will wear the catheter until June 15th when I see a urologist who will use a sonogram to measure what is in the bladder, and if an acceptable amount the catheter will be removed. The urologist is in Fort Wayne near Parkview Randalia hospital. This is close to downtown. We have never used any facilities there. He comes to Warsaw sometimes, but he had no openings in Warsaw that would fit my need. That means another drive to Fort Wayne in about a week. Fortunately, my follow-up with the ortho surgeon is in Warsaw on the 27th. 

When we arrived home about 5:30 p.m. Friday, I took some things into my bedroom. When I came back to the living room, I saw the beautiful bouquet pictured at the top of this post. My husband had ordered it for our anniversary. When the discharge schedule got rearranged, he called the florist to ask that they leave it with our next-door neighbor. When the neighbor saw us arrive home, he carried it to our front door. It smells really nice, too. The butterfly is from another neighbor who enjoys gifting people with cards.

I feel very tired which is to be expected. My poor husband is also exhausted from the back and forth and the stress. It has been a nice quiet Saturday snoozing, reading newspapers and books. Tomorrow we will get take-out from Grace Village or Ruby Tuesday for our anniversary dinner. We are living the "for better or for worse" of our wedding vows. It will take me about 6 weeks to feel normal, just in  time for a family reunion here in Winona Lake. Our nieces and nephews are in charge of the event. 

Celebrating 42 Years

My husband doesn't routinely give me flowers on our anniversary. A few decades ago I told him that since flowers last such a short time, skipping the traditional bouquet would be OK. However, at 11 a.m. June 11th the doorbell rang and there stood a delivery person with a vase of flowers for me.

 He asked the florist shop to put together a bouquet that would last longer than just roses, though there are a couple of roses here.

For our evening meal, we drove to Fort Wayne to dine at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. There was one in Dallas, but we never visited it. When this restaurant opened in Fort Wayne, he decided we would make a special effort to go. Our 42nd anniversary seemed a good time.
We sat in a banquette (booth with surrounding "wall") for two. The seating staff put some rose petals around the candle. This alerts the waiter and other staff that the couple is celebrating an anniversary. We received many good wishes from the wait staff.

The steak choices are plentiful. Mostly from $40 on up. I had the petite filet mignon. My husband had the ribeye (16 ounces!). There are some non-beef entrees (salmon, veal), but why skip steak when eating at a steakhouse. The menu is ala carte. The appetizers, salads, soups, and side dishes have a charge. I ordered the harvest salad which was terrific. A mixture of greens, small tomatoes, roasted corn, goat cheese, French fried onion bits, bacon, dried cherries, spiced pecans all blended so well. Each bite was interesting. It was dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Hubby had a bowl of lobster bisque. The waiter told us that the sides were generous enough that two could share. We shared potatoes au gratin which I found underwhelming. I had kept some of my salad to eat with the steak, and my husband ordered grilled asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. I did eat a bit of his asparagus.

While I visited the ladies room and the assistant waiter wrapped half of the ribeye for a to-go bag, my husband perused the dessert menu. I felt the waiter could have told us we would be getting a small dessert gratis to celebrate. He did not. We ordered a piece of carrot cake which could have served 3 people easily. It was a towering hunk of cake. We brought half of it home along with the free desserts (cup of chocolate mousse and a mini carrot cake) which were presented to us while we were eating the cake.

The manager brought us an anniversary card with a $25 gift card which is good for 6 months. Maybe we will try lunch (only on Fridays) and sit on the patio. Though very nice, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is expensive.

As we drove home with our left-overs, we passed farmers in the fields taking advantage of the beautiful weather to plant their fields.

We had a steak sandwich for lunch today, the mini desserts this evening, and the large piece of carrot cake will probably be consumed tomorrow night. Still enjoying our anniversary goodies.

June Bloom of the Month and More

I picked up my bloom of the month from Martin's today. I prefer pink roses to red blooms. They had one yellow and one mauve bouquet as well. The pitcher I bought at Heart of the Lakes Antique Mall a few weeks ago when my husband was away on a jaunt with his brother to Mackinac Island in Michigan.

Yesterday my husband and I ate lunch at Baker Street restaurant in Fort Wayne to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary. The setting and food are nice, but it is the scrumptious desserts that make it special. They comp a dessert if it is an anniversary or birthday. They comped my crème brulee, but we didn't share it. LOL. My husband wanted to try the carrot cake. He halved his piece and brought the rest home, but it is so rich (icing, nuts, caramel) that when I ate a piece today while he was at a men's event for Grace Village, I only ate half of the half. I did eat my whole dessert yesterday all by myself. ;-) 

I bought 13 books at the Saint Ann's Tent sale last Wednesday. The inventory was much better organized this year. They even had the books sorted into rough categories. 6 of the books I am giving to Grace Village library. The non-fiction books I will read and then see if they make good additions to the collection. They are mostly exploration/travel books. I did buy one book about writing. I have a desire to write, but not the discipline, though I did a few of the suggested exercises from this book.

3 of the Christian fiction books I bought I have been reading before taking to the library. They are the Hope Beach series by Colleen Coble. This series set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has suspense plots. Of course, that made me want to read and read to see what happened. I have stayed up late 2 nights, well past midnight. The good news is that I finished the 3rd book early this morning; I will be going to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. 

Tomorrow night we plan to go to a community barbecue put on by the Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church to celebrate their 75th anniversary I think. A lady in our neighborhood came to our door with a flyer. We were married in that church and still know many people who attend there though it isn't our current church. We have been having rain, but tomorrow the clouds are expected to blow out and the humidity drop. It should be a nice outdoors event.