36? Better make it 37.

Well, as you may know, as of tomorrow, Jen and I will have been married 3 years.

We originally wanted to go to the Outer Banks for our anniversary; we knew money would be tight, but we figured we could do that trip on the cheap, for $200 or less. Gas isn't getting any cheaper, of course, but it's not too far out there. The lodging would probably be the most expensive part. Between a room for the night, dinner, and gas both ways, and maybe a souvenir or two, we figured we could get out for a bit. Just one night.

Well, money was tighter than usual, so we put off making our plans until the last minute. Then, when Jen went to put in for the time off, she found out a backstabbing coworker she made the "acquaintance" of had heard about her anniversary, saw she hadn't put in for it, so took the day of, plus the day before and the day after off. So I guess as some petty, catty angry-woman kind of thing, she's celebrating my wife not being able to go anywhere for her anniversary. I tell ya, there are some messed up people in this world, but I'm not too worried, because aside from all the old adages about Karma (e.g. "what goes around comes around"), people who live on and feed off negative energy tend to have it follow them. I guess that's another adage about Karma, but it seems to be fairly true. Everyone has good days and bad days, but you can look on the brighter side of a bad day if you count your blessings and try to make the most of something.

Anyway, I got to thinking. Three years is 36 months. After the wedding, on the 7th of every month, we'd celebrate the anniversary to the month, though it got kinda old after 2 years. Well, she's one of Kevin Smith's biggest fans, and, as any of his fans will tell you, he has a certain affinity for the number 37. He wears a sports jersey, I forget what team or sport, but most likely a New Jersey team; it's where he's from. Anyway, the number is 37. It goes back to his first film, "Clerks.", and it's kind of a crude joke. If you don't get the reference, you can find it here.

So our 37-month anniversary is August 7, and that's a Friday. I have to work Friday nights, but I can get the night off if I ask far enough in advance. Even if I can't get the night off, I don't have to be at work until 11pm. Worst case scenario, they say no, and I go out to dinner, have a great evening, and then go to work. Not a big deal. I'd like to have the night off, but anyone who's punched a time card in the last year knows you can't mess with work, not in this economy. So if they tell me I gotta work... I gotta work.

(No, I didn't get the title wrong. The title is a reference to a line in another movie, Road Trip, just with the numbers changed. The correct quote is "Two fingers? Better make it three.")