Love is in the Air

Tonight is Friday night and I'm home here sans spouse. He's camping with the Scouts. That's okay--last Friday night it was quite a different story.

I had a surprise weekend planned for my honey. Friday he got home from work and about 10 minutes later my sister, Amber, showed up. He wondered what was up and I told him that she was going to stay with the kids while we ran out to Chipotle. He was like, "Oh, okay." Of course, I had more planned than a $6 burrito, but I was playing it cool.

We had a great little dinner and chat. I told Michael that we were going somewhere else and asked him how much he wanted to know. He responded, "I'm liking the surprise aspect," so I just told him where to drive. Even when he saw the Bed and Breakfast in front of us, he didn't put it together.

We stayed the night at a really cute B&B called The Inn at Norwood. It was so fun. He was just so surprised! I don't know where he had been thinking we were headed, but it certainly wasn't to an overnighter. It was so enjoyable! We relaxed by reading a ton and taking advantage of the jacuzzi tub in our room. We even went to bed at 9:30! It was great.


Saturday morning, we filled up on our three course breakfast and then relaxed some more before walking through the Main Street Festival going on in Sykesville. Michael picked up some Apple Butter and cherry soda from a family farm booth. We strolled through a used book store and took our time perusing the titles. It was so nice!


After leaving Sykesville, we went for a walk around a nearby lake. The weather was beautiful as we strolled under the trees. It was quite lovely. Before long, it was time to go to "linner." We went to The Cheesecake Factory where I introduced Michael to the little bites of heaven known as Avocado Egg Rolls.

During the meal I mentioned that I needed to buy some new pantyhose for church on Sunday and that maybe we could run to Target after "linner." Michael said, "Well, it's your sister who's got our kids..." That's when I knew that he thought we were going home after our meal. I didn't correct him.

When we got back in the car after our quick trip into Target, I confessed to Michael that the reason we had had such an early dinner wasn't to relieve Amber, but to make it to the next, and final, part of our date: a live recording of one of Michael's favorite radio shows on NPR, The Prairie Home Companion. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I think he was really thrilled! His first reaction was, "How are we going to get there?" I quickly explained that it wasn't taping in Minnesota, but Baltimore.


I did tease him that we were going to be the only people there under the age of 70. And to be fair, that wasn't true; we saw 6 other people under 70 by the end of the evening. It was a neat show, though. We got to see Garrison Keillor do his thing and heard some fun musical acts, including Carole King. It was a great fun!

Finally, we came home. In the car on the way back, I made Michael rank various aspects of the 27 hours away in order of how much he enjoyed them. I was tickled at how high "the surprise element" ranked on the list (I bought the tickets to the show over 2 months ago and have been the perfect secret-keeper!).

It had been over four years since we'd gone away together and I am so glad we did it! I am so thankful for my sister, Amber, who totally spoiled my children (there are still cans of soda in my fridge left-over from their shopping spree at Weis) and took great care of them (including bathing Kenna after she stuck her hand down her diaper and pulled out a handful of you-know-what!) What a lucky girl I am to have a great husband with whom I can still have fun and a giving sister who helps me to be able to remember that!