(I know it’s way past Thursday.  A lot of stuff was going on this past week so I’ll start with our anniversary.)

Yes, you read that right.  It’s been seven years since Audi and I tied the knot.  Weird.  It all went so fast, and I can definitely say that this past year was a great one for us.  We were open to change both in our personal lives and in our relationship, which always works in your favor if you embrace it.  As of today we are on Day 35 of “The Love Dare,” which is an amazing book featured in the movie “Fireproof” and a Christmas gift I requested from Tod.  It’s actually been really easy for us, but we’ve gotten some good pointers along the way and feel it’s brought us closer together.

On the sixteenth, my friend Gwen was able to watch the kids so I picked Audi up at work, and we went to Applebee’s for lunch.  We had a nice, relaxing time enjoying a hassle-free meal until the waitress came back with our gift card saying the computer didn’t recognize any cash left on the card.  We both looked at her puzzled because we got the card for Christmas and had used it on Audi’s birthday to order out.  I had written in marker on the back $50   38.42.  We knew there was money left on it.  After explaining the situation and seeing the look on our faces, the waitress immediately said not to worry.  The manager had taken care of our bill and to enjoy the rest of our day.  She also suggested we call the number on the back to resolve the issue.   I nodded.  We said thank you, left a cash tip, and went to the car.  I called the number right away and found out we had $38.42 left on the card.  I then talked to Erma who said if it happens again, the magnetic strip is probably bad, and the waitress should manually type the card number into the computer for payment.

So for our anniversary we received a complimentary meal at Applebee’s due to a gift card malfunction.  I guess we’ll have to go out again to spend the $38.42 left on the card!