Yesterday was my
birthday. It was, by far, one of the
best birthdays I've ever had.
The girls knew that my
birthday was approaching, and last week one of them asked me, “Mom, when is
your birthday?” I said, “Next Tuesday…six
days from now.” They replied, “In SIX
days?!! Your birthday is in SIX days,
and you haven’t even mentioned it?!! Aren't you excited about it?!!”
As you can tell, they were
pretty shocked that I didn't have a big countdown going. Last week, I remember even thinking that I
should get a little more excited about my birthday. But, honestly, I just figured that it would
be just another Tuesday.
We would do our school lessons,
I would make breakfast and lunch, clean up the kitchen eight times, put laundry
away, tell people to simmer down and quit quarreling, prep dinner, plead with
children to quit playing and get back to their chores, wipe noses, change
diapers, etc. It would be just another
day in our home-sweet-home, until 6:00 arrived and my mom showed up so that we
could celebrate by grabbing a bite to eat and spending our Kohl’s cash.
I thought it sounded fun
enough. And I was certainly looking
forward to an evening out of the house.
Josh and I rarely go out to dinner alone, and I was obviously looking
forward to a little alone time with my hubby.
Well, Monday evening
brought a lot of laundry because we were gone all weekend, and my typical
Saturday laundry day had long since passed without a load completed. Josh worked on processing the two deer that
he had gotten the week before, and I did a couple of rounds of dishes.
We headed to bed around
midnight with a load of clean dishes in the dishwasher, a pile of dirty dishes
in the sink, and a growing number of pots and pans awaiting their turn to be
scrubbed. I knew what I would be doing
on my birthday. Glamorous, huh?
Most mornings, Josh
unloads the dishwasher, and throughout the day, I reload it. It’s a nice process that seems to work very
well in our house. I was crossing my
fingers that on this particular morning {my birthday morning!} that MAYBE Josh
would actually reload all of those dirty dishes sitting on the counter so that
I would only have to wash the pots and pans.
I hadn't set my alarm
clock on Monday night because I figured that on my birthday, I could certainly
sleep in without feeling guilty. I heard
Josh get up and shower for work, and I stayed in bed…as usual. J A bit later, I
was certain that I heard dishes clanking around in the kitchen. He was definitely reloading the dishwasher…total
score!! Bonus points for the hubby!
Then, I heard something
else. Water running. Pots and pans clanging. Wait a minute. Pots and pans, too?!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THIS GIRL!!!
Yes, people, these kinds
of things are exciting to me. I am
easily pleased.
Then, I realized that the
television was on. We don’t do
television in this house before 10:00 a.m.
I sat up and looked at the clock, and it said 8:00 a.m. Now, all of the wheels start turning in my
head. What is going on? Why did Josh not leave for work an hour ago like
usual? Why is Amelia watching t.v.?
I walk into the kitchen…excuse
me…I walk into the crazy clean kitchen, and there is my lovely hubby, drying
dishes {swoon}:
“Uhhh…why are you not at
work?”
“I might have taken the
day off for your birthday.”
Ummmm…ok! Love it!
And then he went and bought us all doughnuts…because I like doughnuts. You’re welcome, children.
And then he said, “You’d
better get school finished early because you’re mom is coming at 1:00 so that
we can go shopping. And we have dinner reservations
at 7:15. And we’ll be coming back home
to get ready because we need to dress up.”
And I think you might be
the best husband ever.
{And total cheers to my
mom who stepped in at the last minute when plan A didn't work out because
Olivia was sick.}
So, we had doughnuts and
did school and ate lunch by 1:00 {it all goes way faster when there is someone
else there to distract the little ones and make everyone’s lunch}.
And then we went shopping. I bought a dress, a purse, 2 pairs of awesome
shoes, and a sweater that has nothing to do with my nice outfit. I just liked it. And it was on clearance. And it was gray. I know, perfect, right?!
Oh, and some Christmas
presents.
Then, we came home, and
Josh put on his new suit that he just happened to buy a few weeks ago without telling
me {for some upcoming events} and decided that this would be a nice place to
wear it for the first time. Have I
mentioned that I love a man in a suit?
Because I do. {I will refrain
from making inappropriate comments during this portion of my blog post.}
So we go out to this
swanky restaurant and spend a gazillion dollars on dinner. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration…but
just a bit.
It was an absolutely
lovely dinner. It was an absolutely
lovely day. Josh could have cleaned the
kitchen and brought me doughnuts, and I would have been thrilled. Everything else was just icing on the
cake.
I am an emotional
being. When I think of all I've been
given, I can’t help but feel completely overwhelmed by all of my blessings. And then I get all cryish and weepy because
that’s just me. I did that a few times
yesterday, and I’m sitting here crying my eyes out right now…and wiping my snot
on my sweater sleeve {don’t worry, it’s not the new gray one}. Was that TMI?
Sorry.
So, for the record, let me
just say this to my husband: I love
you. I love surprises. I love surprises planned by you. They are always the best. Thank you for knowing me so well and for
creating a fabulous memory on a beautiful Tuesday in November that would have otherwise
been a day just like any other. Mwah!!
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