Happy Birthday to Me

Today was my 49th birthday and I took the day off from work. A few years ago, one of my work colleagues made an overhead announcement on my birthday asking everyone to wish me a "Happy 50th Birthday". He was joking, of course, but I worried that some people believed him. Ever since then, I decided that I should ask for my birthday off so I could do whatever I wanted on my birthday.

I started off today walking Eric to the bus. It was a chilly 39 degrees with a breeze outside at that time. Eventually, Natalie went to the bus, and then Patrick and I took Alex to school. We went to the gym then went home to take showers, then went to lunch. This is our routine for many of my days off. I chose Boudro's Texas Bistro for lunch. I love their duck spring rolls, which also comes with a sort of Asian-type salad, and that's what I had today. For dessert we had Haagen-Dazs ice cream, a mixture of the Belgian Chocolate Chocolate and Coffee. The Belgian Chocolate Chocolate flavor is not available at the grocery store, so Patrick and I order it every time we get a chance to go to the actual Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop.

It was already almost 1pm by the time we finished, so we went straight to Alex's school to pick him up. He had an early dismissal today, at 1:30pm, because of finals. We went home and the I took him to his hair appointment. We got home in time for me to get Eric from the bus. Natalie came home on the bus soon after.

I asked two things of my children for my birthday--that they clear the living room of clean laundry by folding the clothes in the laundry baskets and putting them away, and that they put ornaments on the Christmas tree. They did finish the laundry but didn't even start the ornaments. I'm a little disappointed, but unfortunately, not surprised. I'm still hoping they'll do that when I'm on call tomorrow night.

We went to Paesano's 1604 Restaurant for dinner. We met Patrick's parents and our good friends Al and Alicia and their kids there. I had my favorite, the Shrimp Paesano and then Cappuccino Pie for dessert (basically coffee ice cream with chocolate on the top). Natalie also had the same dessert, which she shared with Eric.

Patrick had his usual Veal Parmesan, and the kids had their usual Fettuccine Alfredo with Alex adding chicken. He can have that almost every meal just like I could have pasta with mixed seafood for almost every meal (when we were in Italy). Patrick's mom also had the Veal Parmesan, and his dad also had the Shrimp Paesano. Patrick had the Gianduja Double Chocolate Cake with ice cream covered in hazelnuts, as did his father. We all had a very full, and very delicious meal.

By the time we got home, it was almost 8pm. I opened my presents, a Silhouette Portrait die-cutting machine, two more pairs of Feetures brand running socks, and a flashing LED light that I can wear on my clothing when I run in the dark. Alex asked Patrick why we have so many die-cutting machines. He replied, "Because they make your mother happy." Yup, that's pretty much why! :)

My sister Cynthia sent me a present that arrived today with a beautiful birthday card to go with it (see picture). She didn't have to mail my present. I would have been just as happy to receive it next week when we visit her, but I really appreciated it. She does such a beautiful job on her cards and her wrapping. My present was another pair of Features brand running socks, a turtle fur headband to keep my head/ears warm, and a pair of running gloves. My in-laws gave me some money and two pairs of running gloves. Al and Alicia got me an Amazon gift card. Cool! I am all set for running in the cold!

Patrick took the first two photos above. The second picture was actually the first picture he took. The kids insisted on taking a picture laying on the sofa like that, so I was fine with it, then I wanted one with us sitting up. I'm missing my oldest child, but he will be home on Sunday. In the meantime, I had an awesome birthday complete with tons of birthday wishes on Facebook. Thank you to ALL!