On Tuesday Jack said to me, “It’s our anniversary soon. I know we’re having a big party for our 26^th, but how about you and I go out to dinner?”

We don’t eat out much. Jack is a great cook and the garden is coming in gangbusters. He really surprised me with the next line, though. “I’m sure there’s a Mexican restaurant in Wytheville.”

I like Mexican. Jack doesn’t. The fact that we have lived here five years and don’t know where a Mexican restaurant is might tell you something. But heck, he was offering….

We found addresses for two, selected one, and arrived in the middle of Happy Hour. Jack was happy: he got spicy shrimp diablo. I was happy. They had $5 margaritas served in water glasses.

When the meal was over we were replete, but I was also mildly tipsy. Not a good idea to drive, and Jack doesn’t care for driving in town. It was so near our house we could feasibly have walked home, but if there’s something Jack likes less than Mexican food, it’s walking.

But hey, there was this Dollar General next to the restaurant. ….

“Somebody on my canning group said they had cheap jars, and we’re out of pints,” I said to my husband, pointing. He rolled his eyes, but he’s the one who loves tomato and peach salsa and both were overflowing bowls in our kitchen.

They had not-all-that-cheap canning jars in the size we needed (we can pints when it’s just gonna be the two of us eating whatever is going into the jar; we can’t eat fast enough to finish off the quarts).

They also had cheaply priced good quality undies, some office supplies, a surprisingly hard to find brand of canned peas that we like when they’re done in the garden, and a few other bits and bobs you might make fun of us for buying, so I won’t mention them.

We meandered our way happily up and down overstuffed aisles of inexpensive goods, making fun of items and then purchasing them. (This is how we wound up with a llama planter.)

Our total at the restaurant was $56, which we considered very reasonable given we each had entrees and drinks. We dropped the other $44 at Dollar General, walking out with our llama planter and name brand undies feeling quite smug. And a little more sober.

Jack admired his new writing pens, tucking a couple into his pocket. I secured my canning pints for the ride. As I closed the trunk, there he stood. With a sweet kiss he said, “This has been a very nice anniversary date. You are my favorite person to meander with.”

And that was date night, Wytheville style. It was a very pleasant evening.