Biannual

Two of my three boys were born in the summer.  When they were in elementary school, they couldn't bring birthday treats on the actual day, so we started making a big deal out of their half birthday. They enjoyed picking out something to share with all the students in their class and all the extra attention that goes along with the celebration.   At home, instead of getting more presents and cake on the half birthday, we turned the tradition around.  On that day you had to do something for OTHER people.  That usually involved trying to be nice to their brothers for the whole day (and since there wasn't any bickering, it was nice for me, too).

Birthday celebrations aren't the only thing that happens twice a year around here.  I change out my winter clothes for summer ones, and reverse the process several months later.  I go to the dentist and get my teeth cleaned.  I also have my wedding ring serviced.

After 31 years I still have the same ring.  We bought it from a family friend when we first got engaged.  That store is closed, but several years ago Tony took it to another jeweler and had some work done on it.  Their guarantee stated that if I bring the ring in for an inspection and cleaning every six months they'll fix anything that goes wrong.  I have enough trouble remembering everyday things, let alone things that only happen twice a year. However, I use the Outlook Calendar on my computer to help me with that. On August 2 (my anniversary, and the date of my ring "redo") and February 2 a reminder pops up, telling me it's time to take the ring in.

The store I need to go to isn't in the mall I work at, but it's close, so after my shift ended today I drove to the jeweler and took care of it. Since it's getting close to Valentine's Day I was surprised that weren't busy.  It only took ten minutes to get my ring inspected and serviced. I slipped it back on my finger, noticing the way it shined after its good cleaning.  Job taken care of for another six months

Seeing that reminder last night made me stop and think: we always make a big deal out of the date of our wedding, but we've never celebrated our half anniversary. I wonder why? Tonight we went out for dinner. Nothing fancy-just pizza and salad at a place not too far from us, but it was a good way to  commerate our half day.