Spring Break & Our 8th Anniversary Weekend

Last week was Spring Break around here... Normally, we get Squeeks for the first half of it, but of course, her mother is withholding her right now, so she "did us a favor" and "let us visit" on Tuesday for the day. Ace & Squeeks spent the majority of the day going through what was left on her old computer files and transferring/cleaning up her new-to-her laptop. We had dinner together (steaks & crab; yum!), then Ace took her to the mall to meet up with her mother... who, after insisting on meeting at 7p on the dot, was more than 30m late (no phone call or text, as usual). We *think* she was on a date because she gave some excuse about the waiter being "slow with our check" when she finally did show up. While Squeeks was computering with her father, MK & I worked on finishing her Science Fair project. Wednesday evening, I took Princess to soccer practice, then grabbed food to-go, and dropped her at Mimi's. T, D, & their girls came down from eastern Washington after T got off work, so they didn't get there 'til 10p, & I didn't get to be part of the welcoming committee. Ace and I had a quiet evening to ourselves, though, once I returned. Thursday morning, we had our mochas, got packed up, and headed to the coast. We found it slightly amusing that our gear was stuffed into the back seat, but the dogs got the whole cargo area to themselves. When we got there, we spent the majority of the weekend doing absolutely nothing. There was a lot of reading (me), guitar playing (Ace), driving, walking, a little bit of shopping, and some computering. Friday, we had lunch at the cute little 60's joint on the north side of town, and Saturday night, we had our "official anniversary dinner" at the Blackfish Cafe. This was the second time we'd eaten there; the food was good, but the service wasn't (this time). I had to make reservations, so when I called, I told the woman that it was our anniversary & asked if there was anything special they do for that ("... like a free dessert or something?"). She said, "Oh, I'm sure we can come up with something." It took more than 10m before the server even came to the table, another 5m before he took our order, and in between serving bread & our salads, that was another 10 minutes. Another 20m to get our food. There was no free dessert. He didn't even say or write "Happy Anniversary" on the check. I am a 20% or more tipper; we tipped him 15% this time, and even that was too much I thought. Regardless, it was a very relaxing weekend, and nice to not have to do anything for three full days.