Happy Birthday....ME!

May 25th.  Best day of the year.  And I'm finding that as I'm getting older (and older....) that more and more people like to celebrate my birthday by taking me out to eat.  I must look like I'm wasting away (ha ha) because they just keep feeding me!  And you know what?  It's been just grand.   I think the best part was Settebello.  Twice.  Mmmm.

But let's not jump ahead here.  Let's begin on the 24th.  I decided to do my crying on that day.  You may remember that last year our sweet Alex departed this earth on my birthday.  Kind of overshadowed the birthday thing, which was fine, and I had to shed a few tears for him this year.  The tears came early because I was watching one of the last Oprah episodes ever and it was about a little boy she knew who had died - it showed photo of him wrapped in the paws of his helper doggy and that started the flow of tears.  Okay, I'm also slightly sad that Oprah is going off the air.  I did not watch her every day by any means, but I will confess to experiencing several, shall we say, 'lightbulb moments' while viewing her show.  She's a neat lady and I feel a little like my friend is moving or something like that. THEN that night was the U2 concert.  When they first announced that they were coming, it was a very long time ago when my Bundle still was a bundle.  I wasn't going to leave my infant for a concert, so we only got a ticket for Troy.  Then of course the show was postponed.  For a YEAR.  And by the time they came I could probably have convinced someone to hang out with my kids for the night, but since Troy already had reserved seats with a friend, I chose to not worry about it.  DUMB.  I should have worried about it.  I didn't go 14 years ago when they were here, and I was sorry then, and I'm sorry  now.  Luckily I live close enough to the stadium that I could just throw open my living room windows and listen to every note.  So close, so far away.  Boo hoo, poor me, yada yada.


Waking up on the 25th made everything right once again.  I love my children.  Their sweet father had taken them shopping, and subtly guided their purchases so I didn't end up with a giant rhinestone necklace which nearly caused Bitty to faint with desire when she saw it. The kids were just little wiggly excited puppies waiting for me to open my cards and gifts.  A silver bracelet and a lovely little glass paper weight Stomper was very proud to have chosen.  I couldn't love anything more.  I ate lunch with friends and then enjoyed an evening out with my husband - our first visit to Settebello that week. Such wonderful pizza, followed by wonderful gelato, followed by a wonderful (and strangely childless) stroll through The Gateway Mall where we browsed shoes and then kitchen supplies.  We even bought some stuff for me.  Fun.  Thank you, Myca and Cullen, for babysitting.  My kids adore you, we adore you.

I have been celebrating ever since.  That's really true.  What I'm celebrating is the fact that I have so many people in my life who love me.  They need to stop feeding me, but they love me and I love them.  Life is good.  And also I'm excited for my new birthday shoes to get here.

In closing and continuing the theme of birthday shoes, I must share a happy birthday memory from the days of yore, when I did not keep a blog.  I will never forget the year (I think I was turning 27 or something cute like that) when Troy woke me up on my birthday by handing me a gift, inside of which I found the cutest pair of Chako slip-ons.  I happily hugged and kissed him and he was laughing, because he then handed me another wrapped box which contained another pair of shoes I loved.  And I jumped up and down and laughed because it was so funny that he gave me two pairs of shoes.  That was when he gave me the third gift-wrapped shoe box of the day. Three awesome pairs of shoes. How he loves me. Thanks for the shoes!