11 years

It was our 11^th anniversary just recently and we made it pretty low key this year. Usually we will plan a getaway to the coast or something more noteworthy than dinner and a potential movie, but this year we seemed to be pretty busy with the end of school, work(s) and the always volatile babysitter plans. We ended up going to the Veritable Quandary for dinner and caught a few local bands at Dante’s.

We have haven’t been to the VQ in a number of years, but I am happy to say that it was just as good as I remembered. They serve gourmet American food and have a very interesting menu that changes frequently based on what ingredients are in season. Kim ordered a really good Salmon dish and I got an Opah dish that turned out very well. I’m not usually one to order fish as an entrée, but Opah is a very meaty fish and I enjoyed it a lot.

Kim mentioned at dinner that 11 years doesn’t seem as long as 10 years for some reason and strangely enough I can see what she means. Maybe it’s because 10 years together is such a noteworthy accomplishment in a relationship, or maybe because we had planned quite a lot for our 10^th anniversary and this year we just winged it. I’m happy to say that we are both still good friends after 11 years and enjoy hanging out whenever we get a chance to step out of our very busy daily routines to spend some time together.

I found it amusing looking around the restaurant at the other couples that most sit across from each other, even when the tables are surrounded by benches on 3 sides. The two of us sat on the same bench with heads together if not a head on a shoulder and talked and laughed about all sorts of things while enjoying a couple of drinks and a beautiful night. It probably looked like we were a couple that was dating or one of those silly newlyweds.

11 years down and looking forward to the next 11.

~Matt

What's in a Name

I was talking with my sister just the other day about the little one that she's expecting and it occurred to me that she hadn't changed her last name since she became married. She still retains her Heidenreich name while her husband's last name is Rawitscher. This makes for a very interesting dilemma for an upcoming child. What name to give the child?

"Do we hyphenate our names together, why don't we just make up a new last name like Rawhide and ride off into the sunset as a family." Both last names are each terrible in their own right, neither is pronounceable by the common person and neither can be easily spelled if spoken, which is why my sister has never changed her name. Why trade one unpronounceable name for another. But the thought of naming a child Johnny Rawitscher-Heidenreich would probably be just as mean as naming a child Apple Tomato Smith.

I was also talking with her husband about baby names and we got to talking about first names. Does a name define the person, or does the person define the name? I know a number of people with the same first name and many of them are very similar. Have you ever met a physicist by the name of Brock? Have you ever met a jock with the name of Melvin? Think of a few names and see if the people you know by those names are similar. Maybe it's just my imagination.

If you ask me, they should just go with LaDamien Von Puderschmidt Rawitscher-Heidenreich III and be done with it.

~Matt