Happy anniversary

Last Thursday, KH and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. The day started a little better than the usual. I was given a kiss as he left for work. These days his kisses are reserved for the babies - he would unfailingly kiss every one of them but miss his wife. When I complain, he protested: kissing the babies means you get kissed by default too. Huh??

Anyway, I am not complaining. So I got a rare smack on the cheek and saw him disappearing through the bedroom door.

Went about the usual day's routine, picked Ning up from school,did a bit of shopping, came home and waited for him to finish work.

We could not decide where to go and eat, and dithered a bit before deciding that we would have all the kids come along with us. Flashback to last year when he suggested that the kids come along, we ended up having sushi at genki sushi. I was pretty offended that he could not even have a simple dinner with ME etc and that he had to bring everyone along, what was so special about the occasion then??

This year, I was the one who said let's bring the kids. So we all, including Lolita, piled into the car. I suggested steak at the wagon wheel in greenwood avenue but because the radiator was leaking and temp alarmingly high, we had to go nearer home. Finally settled at Uno Beef House at Blk 51 Toa Payoh Lor 5.

It had great reviews from the Straits Times. We ordered the rib-eye on a hot plate and were not disappointed. The beef was tender and the potato croquette was soft and milky. The kids had steak and chicken chop. Dinner was punctuated by me taking Owain to the nearest bush to fertilise it when he needed to go - yes, trying to wean off diapers.

After dinner, we wanted to head to Toa Payoh garden but found it cordoned off for renovations. So we went home.

And thus was 15 years of marriage celebrated. Over a steak in a HDB coffeeshop, surrounded by 5 kids who were alternately (a) reading while eating (b) fighting over drinks (c) asking to go pee.

It was an extraordinary occasion, but celebrated like an ordinary day. That's exactly like life and how I think it should be. The lines between the extraordinary and the ordinary should be blurred more often.