My Bride

We spent most of Friday and Saturday celebrating Amanda's birthday.

With the help of Amanda's good friend, Lauren, I was able to find coverage for Amanda's afternoon classes. The high school principal, Mr. Jeffries, helped to set up the surprise by insisting that Amanda joined him for meeting during her lunch break.

Amanda appeared in the principal's office, and we surprised her with the news that she had the rest of the day off and that we -- David, Phyllis, and I -- were taking her out for a birthday lunch.

Amanda was able to squeeze in a rare weekday nap before the girls came home from school with David and Phyllis. We had a fairly quick turnaround to go back into town, grab a bite to eat, and make it to the movies in time for The Hobbit.

Just as Mr. Jeffries was keen to help, so was Josh, the manager of the movie theater. I went in the previous day to purchase advanced tickets, and inquired if it was possible to reserve specific seats. Josh said he would dig out a velvet rope and hold some seats for us.

We were greeted at the door, and ushered to our seats. They weren't exactly hard to spot: our seats had been cordoned off with a twisted vine of flowers, and dried petals were sprinkled on the floor.

Earlier, as we drove into town, Amanda had congratulated me on making her feel special. Since she had no idea about our reserved seats -- neither did I, as it turns out -- I simply smiled, and said that I was glad she felt special.

I am fairly certain that her flower-covered seat took that special feeling to a new level.

We enjoyed it cozy day at home on Saturday, before heading over to Amanda's mom's house for dinner. Lauren and Josh joined us for a wonderful meal with Claudia and Renata, and we had a great evening.

I'm so happy I was able to make Amanda feel special, because that's exactly what she is to me.