BIRTHDAY ADVENTURES

I had another day of "recognition of my birth" this past week. I never look forward to birthdays for myself - the whole week was filled with tears over the coming of the day. To help me get through things better I chose to give some gifts for my birthday vs receive them. I spent the day before and during that day giving gifts to those friends who are closest to me and have helped me through so many things, esp recently....esp through all of the tears.

Thankfully, for the most part, the day itself turned out really wonderful.

I was in doubt it would be when Preston woke me up at 1am that day to tell me that "we have a situation" - which usually means something not so fun with the kids. He was right. Ky had thrown up all over the couch in the library - BIG yuck. Preston took care of Ky/laundry while I tried to deal with the couch. Not fun, but eventually we got everything cleaned up. (kiddos have picked up some kind of bug, though we didnt realize it at the time - ky throws up over something or nothing - we have spent several days cleaning up floors, bedding, kiddos, etc)

I was treated to a YUMMY breakfast by 2 very good friends. They came to visit it me in the early AM loaded down with a plate piled high with doughnuts, a gallon of milk, a container of yummy fruit and a wonderful gift. It was a nice surprise and I enjoyed the time they took to come and bring breakfast and stay to visit for a bit. Thank you M & C for your friendship, kindness and patience. It really does mean so much that you continue to put up with me and did something more "low key" just to help me do better. FYI all those doughnuts lasted all of about 10 minutes - it was a wonderful treat for all of us!

That morning I had a massage therapy appt too. That was hard, but really helped me to be able to get through the rest of the day. Thank you W for all your kindness, patience, friendship and for never giving up on me! And also for teaching and talking with Preston too - I know that was a big step for both of us.

Preston was able to take the day off work, just to spend it with me. We spent the morning running errands - and running back to the house for things we had forgotten - which Kaeli thought was pretty funny as she kept asking: "are you sure you're not coming back now?". We got lunch "on the fly" and then got to go visit some good friends of ours who just had a new baby.

We had a wonderful visit with them and it was so fun to get to hold a new baby - she is SO sweet and only a week old! I also got the fun opportunity to do a newborn shoot as my gift to my friend. Preston was a HUGE help, I would have never been able to do it without him. He did all the hard stuff and just let me do the fun stuff. Thank you sweetie, for all you did, you are an angel!

I know we wore out the baby and my friend too, but I hope it was worth it J! These are just a couple from the fun we had. I will be posting more soon to my photography blog - so watch for more to come!

After the photo fun we asked our friends for their recommendations on a good restaurant to go to for my birthday dinner. They made several suggestions, including an Italian place near by. Z talked up the Calzone they served and that it is a great place. We decided to try it out. From the outside it didnt look like much, but the inside was a totally different story! The walls were painted with murals that made you feel like you were looking out a window into the gardens and streets of old Italy. The ceiling eves were bursting with ivy and decorative lights that looked like huge bunches of grapes. They even had a guy who wandered the place playing an accordian and seranading the customers! It really was fun.

The best part, by far, was the amazing food! We had a cute waitress who took our orders and helped us, and smirked at us. We had never been there before so we asked her what she would suggest. I asked her about several flavors of the Italian sodas that were on the menu. She told us not to order the chocolate because it had a "funky" flavor. And they didnt have caramel (my fave) so we ordered sodas at her recommendation. Mine was raspberry-vanilla with cream, it was SO YUMMY. Preston got one with boysenberry and cream, it was yummy too. We had ordered appetizers too (we love breaded cheese sticks and zuchinni). Little did we know that we would also receive complimentary "appetizers" - bread and salad and a plate with veggies/meat/cheese. By the time we had eaten those we were both already full! We hadnt even ordered dinner yet!

Next came the dinner order. There were SO many things to choose from, so we chatted and decided to each get something different and share. When the waitress came back to take our order Preston told her he would like to get one of the calzones. She looked at him for a minute, and then asked "are you sure?" When he said yes, she got this funny smirk on her face and said she hoped he liked leftovers.....we thought that was a very odd response and didnt understand - until they brought it out! It was literally 5 POUNDS of meat, mushrooms, olives, cheese and crust - that thing was HUGE! I really wish I would have gone out to get my camera - though you still wouldnt have appreciated the size of that thing! Preston & I both looked at each other and at the calzone several times before he finally dug in. It was VERY yummy, but he didnt even eat a third of it. My dinner portion was much smaller in comparison, but still way more than I could eat too. The waitress was really great and I am sure she had a hard time not laughing her head off at us as she took our dinners and boxed them up for us.

Even still, we broke our own family rule (if you are too full for your dinner, you are too full for dessert). How can you not when you go to an amazing restaurant like that and NOT order their most decadent treats on the menu - full to busting or not. We decided that since we were so full that we would order dessert to go - take one taste and take the rest home. It was a good idea, in theory. I ordered a wonderful piece of cheesecake (by command of W) :) and preston ordered their chocolate torte to go. I also saw that they had Spumoni on the menu, and since it is one of my most favorite kinds of ice cream, I just had to get some. The waitress brought my ice cream and the boxed desserts - and then seemed to disappear for a bit. My Spumoni was heavenly, and even though I thought I had been so full, I finished the whole dish! It was cold and refreshing and wonderful. Preston decided to have a bite of his cake - and share one with me. My first reaction was "OH, WOW!" - it was THAT good. I could only handle 2 little bites because it was so rich too. By the time the waitress appeared again my ice cream was gone, and so was most of preston's cake. She did laugh at us then, good naturedly though, as we chatted about how awesome the desserts really are. It was a wonderful dinner and if we get the chance, we will definately go there again.

After that Preston & I ran a few more errands and then headed home. Kaeli had gone to sleep on the couch while all the boys were still up and running around. I know she was prob tired (as I am sure M was too after having our kiddos most of the day - THANK YOU!) and she had totally zonked. After some effort we finally had everyone in their beds and asleep. By then I was pretty wiped out too and also headed to bed while preston caught up on some episodes of Star Trek Voyager.

It really turned out to be a wonderful day. Esp that I got to spend the whole day with my best friend. So much has happened this year, esp with my ill health, and yet he has never stopped giving me his very best. My greatest birthday gift was knowing that he is mine, and that he truly does love me. It has taken me a very long time to get to this point, and it truly is a gift to me that I can feel the way I do, and belive it and trust in it more than I ever have. Through the day we ran errands and visited friends and ate out, and just enjoyed our special time together. Thank you, my love, for standing beside me through sickness and health, through clouds and sun, through smiles and tears, for taking time just for me, and esp for always loving me no matter what. Thank you for our wonderful day together. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Love You.