What a Weekend!

You may have noticed that I took the weekend off from blogging (all two of you who are regular readers :-)). Well, I posted on Saturday I guess. But after that, we were having WAY too much fun to even think about the interweb!

Saturday:
With the help of our friends the Shomos, we discovered the beauty of First Landing State Park. The Shomos brought baby Cullen in his Jeep stroller (definitely built for some off-roading) and their two whippets, Smarty and Scoche. We brought....sunglasses. And a camera!

Here is Cullen all ready to go in his seriously hardcore stroller (it has an odometer, built-in tunes, and check out those wheels!).



And the entire happy family...Joel walked in the back, so there really are no pictures of anyone's face but Cullen's (not necessarily a bad thing, he's cute enough for all of us).



We enjoyed two hours of pleasant, if not aimless, hiking. Some of us may have experienced difficulty interpreting the complicated maps provided at the service building. But I'm not mentioning any names. We saw a LOT more of the park than we intended...or maybe it's a lot less, since we never made it to that lake... Regardless, we had a fantastic time walking and talking with Cheryl and Ken and co., and it was great to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. Thanks, Shomos, for introducing us to First Landing!

Sunday:
Was, of course, Joel's birthday! He's the big 2-4!

Happy birthday, oh husband of my youth!

We celebrated by worshiping together in spirit and in truth, and then eating lots of yummy food at the College & Career lunch after church. It's nice of them to let us attend things, because we're not in college anymore and not so much on the career track yet either. Anyway, I brought an orange cake (Joel's request - so unconventional, that one!) and Turkey Hill ice cream (his favorite!) to make it a true birthday celebration. And of course we all sang to him. Joel was grateful for his First Landing-induced sunburn, which hid his flaming embarrassment at being the center of attention.

In between church and lunch, we hurried home so I could make the cake, and so that he could open his presents (who wants to wait til after lunch?). Doesn't he look lovely surrounded by his gifts?


Incidentally, there is no birthday wrapping paper in our home. Hence, multitudes of gift bags that we have received from others along the way. If I had been able to successfully upload a photo from my birthday, you would have noticed that it looks remarkably similar. Almost as though all the same gifts were present at my birthday, and simply a different smiling birthday face hovering above them. Ah, the beauty of re-gifting. We're starting to really get attached to these bags - especially the Hawaiian shirt one, and the huge one on the left that is useful for ironically giving really tiny gifts. It'll be a sad day when we have to let one go and buy a new one. Or (gasp) wrapping paper! Maybe we should do that sooner rather than later. We're probably stunting the development of our gift-wrapping skills. I wonder when the critical period is, beyond which it will be impossible to learn how to wrap tightly with sharp corners.

Oh, the Geekdom that is my life.

At least my husband thinks I'm funny. Although...I wasn't really trying to be funny. This is the WAY I THINK, people. The nerdy psychology jokes just COME to me. Consider yourself warned: Stay away from psychology school if you're not prepared for it to happen to you!

Birthday Reflections and Thanks

My birthday was on Saturday. I'm officially old (or is it really old?). Ok, probably not in the eyes of most of you, but I'm at that twentysomething age where every year I mourn the passing of another bit of youth. Farewell, flawless skin and bikini-ready silhouette. Adieu, boundless stores of energy that allow me to pull all-nighters. Ciao, carefree days of friends and malls and giggling over boys. See you never, times of little responsibility and bills to be paid by others.

Sigh.

Hello, Grownup World! Land of budgets and metabolism changes and dissertations and time management, and did I mention stress?

But there are certain aspects of Grownup World that I would not trade for all the benefits of eternal youth. An ever-blossoming relationship with Mr. Wonderful, for one. Who just came in from unloading a car full of our friend's belongings (more on that later) and thought it would be helpful to warm his frigid hands by placing them on my warm, sensitive skin. And tried to convince me that it was fun. What a wonderful guy.

Although he does have his moments of utility. Like earlier when he unleashed a stink bomb next to me on the couch and claimed he was "reminding me that it was time for me to go". But I digress.

As I age, I learn ever more of the joys of adulthood and maturity. For example, only as an adult may I choose to have a birthday party that lasts until 4:00 a.m. without fear of parental interference. Only as an adult may I reside in my very own home (well...our very own rental house, anyway) and blast the volume of movies and classic rock until the walls shake. The privileges may not outweigh the responsibilities, but are not to be taken lightly, either.

May I tell you about my birthday party?

It was absurd. (absurd: inconsistent with logic or common sense; incongruous, inviting ridicule)

Due to the limits of confidentiality, the description must remain there. But trust me when I say that you would not believe the absurdity of it all. Especially that movie we watched at two in the morning after Mr. Wonderful got home. So....absurd. In a good way.

My party was also wonderful! Not only did four of my closest friends come over to help ring in my birthday, but they gave of themselves in ways I could not even imagine.

Leana made cupcakes. That didn't really do it justice. Leana made CUPCAKES!!!!! Much better. She and Kasi also gave me a gift certificate for a One-Hour Massage at a nearby massage school. Laurie brought the drinks and gave me gift certificates for THREE FREE VOICE LESSONS with a really terrific lady. It's not every day you get a birthday present that pushes you toward realizing your dreams! Melissa didn't make it due to an unfortunate intramural basketball incident involving her husband, but she did provide the ***** (confidentiality censor). Wish you could have been there, girl!

Also, yay for playing with font options on blogspot.

All this to say...thank you ladies for a most spectacular birthday evening. I truly felt loved and had a blast carrying on with y'all about (confidential topics). I've had close friends in my day, but I don't know that I've ever felt this much a part of an actual circle of friends. Like, a whole group of people who like me and whom I like back. Also of whom my parents would approve. Sweet!