Does today's date ring a bell?

This morning I stood in front of my fridge, door open, scanning the contents for something appropriate for breakfast. A who-knows-how-old container of pasta stared at me from the "leftover" shelf, and triggered this stream of consciousness:

Hmm. I wonder how old that is.

That reminds me - I need to put marinara sauce on the grocery list.

When am I going to the grocery store?

I know, I'll go to WalMart again. That's always fun. Maybe tomorrow.

But last time I couldn't fit everything and Nicknack in the cart, so I'd better go without him.

I'll bet Nicknack would like Orzo. Oh, and Orviette pasta.

I'd better put those on the grocery list, too.

When was the last time I had Orviette pasta?

Oh yeah, I think I burned something with Orviette because I remember someone commenting on my blog that they hadn't heard of that kind of pasta before.

The first time I ever had it was last summer, when Penn cooked at at Fancy Italian Restaurant and Hotel while his boss was on vacation for a couple of months. Nicknack was a newborn. Penn came home really really late and brought home lots of good leftovers, which we we ate at one in the morning. That was fun.

Hey, we still have that gift certificate for $150 to Fancy Italian Restaurant and a voucher for an overnight Fancy Hotel stay that we haven't used.

I need to see if Penn's niece can come stay the night with Nicknack so we can use the certificate and voucher.

Maybe for our anniversary at the end of summer.

That's coming up, isn't it?

When is our anniversary, anyway? Think, woman, think!

September twenty-something? ... Noooo, that's when we had our reception, after the honeymoon. The actual wedding was in August.

Definitely August. Auguuuuuuuust...31? No, that's not right.

It was an even number.

I'll have to check the calendar.

Oh, I see. August 24. That's right around the corner. That's really soon.

Waitaminute.

Penn!? Is today Friday?

Penn! PENN! TURN OFF THE VACUUM!

Because... um, happy fifth anniversary.


We are so lame!

But don't feel sorry for me because we didn't do anything special for our anniversary. Or even remember it, for that matter. I always get roses for Valentine's Day. I am never disappointed Christmas morning. And Penn makes a very very big deal out of my birthday. One year he had food flown in from my favorite Mexican restaurant, in Alaska. Last year I received a maternity spa day package at the swankiest salon in town. This past year I received a surprise MacBook Pro and he revealed that we have a secret savings account containing several months worth of his salary, unbeknownst to me.

You're probably wondering why he failed to mention this to me. And whether I was mad he'd kept it a secret... Short answer: no! Penn decided to pretty much forget about this old account when we were newlyweds and he realized that I had - ahem - spending issues. And then after a few years, when I'd gotten my fiscal act together, it really had slipped his mind. Then he remembered and thought it would make a fun surprise for my birthday.

Who forgets money? I guess the same guy who forgets his anniversary. Luckily his wife is forgetful, too, so he isn't in hot water.

Five years. Sigh. It's gone by so quickly and yet I feel like we've been together for twenty-five years. Twenty-five good years.

I guess I'd better go bake a cake.