The Birthday

Yesterday was a swell birthday. I got to sleep in till 8 am, and was immediately wished "Many happy returns of the day" by the Girl, and given my gift of a new hairbrush (she took mine to Cal and left it there). Then up comes the Boy, who flops on my bed and says, "Happy Barf Day." Lovely. Papa fixed a lovely breakfast, then I went outside for a bit. I am not sure why, but I woke up very sad yesterday, and at first, I made myself feel guilty for this. It was very blustery, but sunny all day. It almost always rains on my birthday, so this was a nice gift from the universe (gifts from the universe needs to be the topic of my next post). Papa joined me outside, I had a little cry, and he broke out in song with "It's your birthday, you can cry if you want to..." and then the kids trickled out of the house, blowing bubbles in the wind. My sadness just sort of evaporated right then and there.

We went over to our old neighborhood, hitting the nursery first. Not only did I come home with two blueberry bushes and a lilac bush, but several little plastic pots of treasures- miniature daisys and creeping thyme (I want to make a miniature garden in a pot), some other flowers to add to the cutting garden, and several packs of heirloom sweet pea seeds. While I was looking at seeds, Papa found a wonderful floppy brimmed sun hat for me. I am supposed to stay completely out of the sun, and this will really help keep it off my face. I was continually pleased with punch yesterday at how often the Papa Dude thinks of me.

Our next stop was to our old fish and chips hangout. As we pulled into the parking lot, a huge red truck (with flames painted on the sides, and those mudflaps with a chrome Barbie leaning back tattooed on them) pulled in behind us. A chorus of excited "Yay, it's Mr. Brown!!!" 's ensued, and the kids rushed to get out and greet our old neighbor, Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown is fairly young in his late 60's, but has been crippled by various spine, back, and hip injuries and arthritis for as long as we have known him (13 yrs now). He is a crusty and grumpy old man on the outside, but has a sweet inside. I cannot tell you how (or why, really) it made my day to see him! We hugged and chatted, and I kissed him on the cheek about 10 times. He headed inside the restaurant to chat with the other "old guys", a group of 8 old-time regulars. The kids ran around and played a bit while Papa and I walked out on the dock, stopping now and again to neck a little. More of the melancholy melted away.

We headed inside and the kids headed straight for the old guys, chatting and reciting their current poetry memorizations for them, and old tradition we have. We then hugged our Favorite-Waitress-In-The-Whole-World, and ordered a small lunch- just fries for the kids, one piece of fish for me, and chowder for Papa. FWITWW tells us Mr. Brown already picked up the tab. Another amazing gift from the universe on my birthday! Another kiss on the cheek for Mr. Brown, a hearty chorus of goodbyes from the old guys, and we were off.

We headed home, for Boy had a play rehearsal he couldn't get out of. As we walked into the house, the phone rang, and I was serenaded with a conference call from the kids' Godparents. Talked to Godmother for half and hour, which I thoroughly enjoyed, then I climbed into the tub and promptly fell asleep. Felt good. Got out and changed into my new birthday outfit, complete with the black capey thing I bought last month, and off we were again.

We dropped the kids off at J's house, one of the nature study moms. I had given my kids a choice as to whether they wanted to stay alone, go to Grandma's and watch mindless tv and play video games, come to dinner with us, or go to J's to play with her 4 and 7 yr old boys, and that's what they picked!

We had a delightful Chinese meal, one of the best I have ever had, and then headed to In The Beginnning, a wonderful quilt shop which is going out of business. Yesterday was the first day of their clearance sale, and all fabrics were 25% off. Papa was so good, carrying my coat, holding bolts of fabric, giving me color opinions- all the other fabric hounds in the store were very impressed, complimenting him (or rather, me, on my choice of him,lol) left and right. I came out with a large bag full of Japanese prints, and let's just say I saved $30.

At this point, J called to ask us to stay out longer,lol. We hit a Starbucks, where the lady behind the counter treated me to a caramel apple cider! Another birthday gift from the universe. Papa and I chatted about school goals for the kids, and then we headed back to J's to pick up the kids, who had had a wonderful time. Got home about 10 pm, tucked them into bed, and headed upstairs, where my wonderful man tucked me in and showed me again how much he loves me. All in all, a very lovely birthday. Character lessons were learned, tears were shed, laughs were had, sunshine was felt, kisses given, Happy Birthdays sung. The good stuff.

LB