Birthday Recap

As much as I fought the idea of advancing age, I couldn't say no to gifts.

The giving started Wednesday before my birthday when my Grandmother took me to lunch and gave me the first part of her present. She's come to the decision that she's going to start giving away "things" at birthdays, Christmas, etc. My mother, for example, received a hand-painted (by my great-grandmother) footed punch bowl. Luckily, I got something I had mentioned dibs on when the time came. I just had no idea it would be so soon. It's a cookie jar she's had in the kitchen for many years, and is a clown. (I've linked to a similar picture here; just imagine black accents on the eyes and a repair line along the neck. The repair line is courtesy of a much younger, and very eager for cookies me.) DH finds it more than a little bit creepy and we are in stalled negotiations on where it will live - he's pushing for inside a cabinet with a solid door, I'm in favor of the counter.

Sunday on our way back from the condo, we stopped at my parents for a deli-sandwich lunch, Gus Grissom's Buttermilk Pie (it's who our recipe came from, I don't think the link is exactly the same as my mom typically substitutes soured milk for the buttermilk, but the picture shows what it looks like cooked) at my request in lieu of cake, and gifts. The highlights were a monogrammed, zip-top L.L. Bean canvas tote, a new hand mixer (5 guaranteed speeds vs. 3 touchy speeds, new and shiny; my old hand mixer and rusting beaters will go to goodwill or some other worthy destination), a fix it and forget it slow cooker cookbook to use with my new crock pot, and the yearly set of U.S. Mint proof coins my dad has gotten me for years.

Monday morning, my parents came into town for another event but were able to meet me for coffee (cinnamon dolce latte, decaf, no fat, no whip for me; cappuccino for my mother, and plain house blend brew for my dad) and a couple more presents including a nice cotton sweater from Talbot's.

Along the way, I checked my personal email and found a totally unexpected and wonderfully thoughtful e-gift card to Amazon from one of my best friends ever who thought I might use it for a few songs for my requested MP3 player. (If you're reading, I owe you a real thank you note, in the mail and everything.)

My bosses then took me out to lunch for my birthday - no real present but a delicious dessert of a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce with candle!

That evening we went to a local restaurant for dinner and my in-laws joined us. We had a delightful dinner (the table next to us was solving America's fiscal problems over a few glasses of wine) with not one, but two desserts split at the table. Flourless chocolate espresso cake, and grilled bread pudding with banana's foster. I could have skipped the entree and gone straight to dessert, it was that good (bread pudding was my choice - the restaurant has a free dessert for a birthday and it came with a candle, too - but the candle blew out as the server was approaching the table. Oh well.)

My in-laws gave me the Sony MP3 player I had requested...it's very shiny and pretty (and pink!) and I can't wait to start loading music on it.

After dinner we returned home, and DH gave me one of his presents. He got me/us matinee tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Richmond on November 8th. And promised a nice dinner after. We've talked about going for a couple of years so this was an awesome gift. Apparently there's one more thing to come, and I think it's on the dining room table waiting for DH's return from an overnight trip.

Oh yeah, my Grandmother had also given me a card "do not open until birthday" - and that held a nice sized check. I'm looking forward to figuring out what to spend that on...

All in all, it was a very good birthday and I ate way too much (coffee, lunch with dessert, dinner with desserts). I was very glad to return to my normal ingestion patterns on Tuesday (actually a little lighter than normal, but that's only because I was still full from Monday).

I'm looking at Curves to get back into healthier activity patterns as well with ski season coming up, and what seems almost a mandatory weight gain with the infertility. I'd love to get back to Pilates, but they changed the class schedule around and don't offer a class that's convenient. With Curves I can go right there after work and jump into the rotation without going out of my way to get there (it's about 20 seconds off the road I take to get home) or having to wait for classes (scheduled for those who get off work at 5pm, which is fair, it just doesn't work for me) to start. But first, I need to buy some new shoes - my shins were sore after walking up and down the resort this past weekend while wearing my most recent pair. (By recent I mean the last pair I purchased. 2-3 years back.) That could be a good use of the money from my Grandmother. And fitting because she bought a good number of shoes for me as I was growing up.