On Being 46

My special day started when I was awakened with a Birthday Morning Smooch from my hubby.  You should understand how incredibly rare this is, considering that he usually leaves the house by 4:30am.  I never see him until he gets home in the afternoon!  Naturally I was pleasantly surprised and curious.  Well it turned out that he got to work and discovered that after he had left the office yesterday, a flurry of emails had gone out to everyone from management, detailing how a bunch of big-wigs from the new corporate office (iTracs was just bought by a much larger company) would be there all afternoon for a celebratory whoop-de-do, and nobody was allowed to wear the usual engineer’s uniform (jeans and a t-shirt).  So he had to come home and change into something more dignified (in his case, dungarees and a polo).  Since he must also stay for most of the whoop-de-do this afternoon, he had some down time at home before he needed to head back, so we got a little extra face time with daddy in the house today.

That came in handy a little while later when, with the front door open to let in the gorgeous fresh morning air, someone inadvertently also left open the front gate, and both dogs decided to take advantage of the offer of freedom.  Sissy is getting old enough that she is not at all difficult to chase down, but Gwin is a puppy, and that means PLAY!!  And CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!  ((Shaking my head…))  With Dad in charge though, it didn’t take long to get them back inside.

My next birthday smile was from Laurent, who had coffee brewing already when I got up, and sweetly brought it to me while I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, even letting me use her special thermal cup.  Then, before I could even finish that first cup, she crept up behind me and gently placed a fresh blossom behind each ear. 🙂  My sweet girl!!

Although my birthday really *ought* to be a national vacation day, we needed to get a little bit of school done today, and that we did, if reluctantly.  A bit after noon, mother wanted to take me to lunch.  I, being the sort that I am, preferred sitting in the car to dealing with a crowded noisy restaurant, so we drove through In n Out Burger and ate our burgers in the parking lot, reminiscing about life at Prairie Bible Institute 46 years ago when she and dad were married and on staff there.

Then this evening, after months of forgetting about First Fridays, we finally remembered in time, the girls got ready and went over to church in time for 6pm mass.  While they were gone, Jeff, Mom and I eagerly awaited Paul’s arrival from work.  I knew his big party would keep him late, but wasn’t sure just how late it would be.  When he finally walked in the door, it was so worth the wait.  We were all completely flabbergasted by the “theme party” that his boss had planned for welcoming the new corporate big-wigs.  The theme was “Oz” — and everyone had to wear a costume.  I kid you not. EVERY.ONE.  The boss lady herself was the Wicked Witch, there was a Dorothy, and Paul?  Well, Paul, bless his heart, got to represent the Lolly-Pop Guild.

I told him earlier in the day that if they were trying to “trim the fat” they could do no better than to force all the employees to wear humiliating costumes – they’d be abandoning ship in droves looking for work elsewhere!

There was, however, a reward at the end of the day.  Everyone in the office received……………

A brand new iPad Mini!!

That was at least a minor compensation for the pain and agony of the afternoon; although, anyone that knows Paul knows that giving him a free Apple product is bound to elicit at least some token sniffs of derision, if only for the sake of maintaining his integrity.  Don’t ask me, I’m not geek enough for that battle.

Anyway, we were getting some good laughs out of it all when the girls drove up to the house, about 40 minutes earlier than I expected them.  It turned out there was no First Friday mass today after all, which may explain why I could not find an announcement in the bulletin.  Oh well, it was good practice for them to help them remember the next time!

Once everyone was home, I had to decide what I wanted to do to celebrate the remainder of my day.  I didn’t like any of the movies being offered (and we couldn’t really afford to take everyone anyway, and I don’t like leaving the family at home), so I decided to send Jeff and Paul out for some Chinese, and then we could eat in, and watch some Netflix.  We watched a couple episodes of The Finder, and then the main event of the evening was to start the PBS series, Cadfael.  Laurent baked me a pineapple upside down cake which was messy and crumbly but delicious with ice cream, and that topped my birthday off with a sweet ending.

Throughout the day I was blessed by so many birthday greetings that left me simultaneously lamenting distance and separation, yet grateful for the way the internet can still allow us to touch one another’s lives.

I get to start a new year today, and despite stress and busyness and feeling tired and overwhelmed more often than I would like, I do so with hope and thanksgiving.  God is continually showing His faithfulness and giving me new reasons to trust Him.  Let the new year begin!!  Thanks be to God!!