birthday report

Last week at PT, a couple of the guys asked me what I was going to do for my birthday. Their suggestions: get a tattoo or go skydiving. Um, no and no. Apparently they don't know me very well. As Denise says, I am a low-level recreator.

I had a very relaxing birthday celebration that just kept going and going!

On Saturday, I went out to lunch and to a movie with Jill.

On Sunday, Marc stayed home with a sick Eva. I took the boys to church, then came home, blogged, and took a delightful nap.

Marc invited his family over and cooked my favorite dinner (lemon chicken, broccoli with blue cheese, and rice). Michelle brought her amazing spinach/strawberry salad and Grandpa Bob brought lots of beautiful fruit (Grandma Mim was sick and had to stay home).

Bob and Mim gave me the sweetest, most clever gift! Four numbered envelopes, one for each decade of my life. Each one had an age-appropriate card, a very nice hand-written message, and some cash. I'm going to have to remember that one.

Michelle gave me this book I have been wanting to read for what seems like forever, and 3 pieces of luscious wool felt. (I didn't even know it came in houndstooth and plaid!!)

I forgot to take a picture, but Emily gave me Adele's new album, which I secretly had been pining for – yes!

Marc also made my traditional German chocolate birthday cake. YUM.

He put Eva to bed and slept on the trundle bed in her room to make sure that I got to sleep through the night.

On Monday, I slept in until I woke up naturally, oh rare joy! Then I stayed in bed and read, one of my favorite things in life. I got up and got ready, even though I had no plans to leave the house. A day of not having to drive the kids anywhere, woohoo!

I opened Jessie's packages after I got up. She made me 9 cd's! So exciting. She made me tiny, fridge magnet-size mantras modeled after the canvas ones in her kitchen. I love them. She bought me 2 eyeshadows, nail polish, and eyeliner from Ulta (on my wish list), and sent two cute fabrics! A motherlode, for sure.

Jill stopped by with balloons and a drink from Sonic.

Patsy sent me this beautiful cookbook from Williams-Sonoma. It is chock full of photographs of Paris, and I loved flipping through and identifying some of my favorite haunts.

Marc hadn't shaved for several days, and as a joke, he created this mustache and goatee. Every time I looked at him, it cracked me up, because I have never seen him any way other than clean-shaven or a bit scruffy all over.

He took the kids out shopping, so I was treated to some time at home, alone (why is that such a delight?). I watched an episode of Pillars of the Earth while working on a wedding gift that is 4 months overdue (!).

I then went down to my studio to do some cleaning/organizing, while listening to some of my new cd's. It's hard to find the time to spend in there, so it felt amazing to have a couple of hours uninterrupted.

And, and, Marc took the boys to get haircuts. That is a gift!

Lucas wandered downstairs eventually and seemed anxious for me to come and see the gifts they had prepared:


Max bought me an iTunes gift card. I always think it is so sweet when kids spend some of their limited funds on someone else.

Marc got me all of these items from my Amazon wish list (the universal wish list is a brilliant idea).

The boys got me ankle weights, also from my wish list. (Gotta keep up my knee exercises, you know.)

Eva picked out this scarf for me and contributed her last $5 from her Christmas money. Apparently, Marc suggested several possible gifts, but she rejected them all until she saw this.

Marc also got me this Bosu ball, a late addition to my wish list, when I was looking around at PT trying to figure out how to replicate things at home. Everyone loves it.

My mom sent me a necklace, a pair of earrings, a Cutco vegetable peeler,

a cute glass butter dish, and some lengths of fancy silk ribbon.

My mom and dad also sent me a check to apply towards my pricey knee braces. Marc said I should use it for something fun, but I hurried and paid it towards our balance yesterday before I could change my mind.

We were going to all go out to dinner, but Eva was still too sick, so we just got Mexican take-out instead. I watched Chuck with the boys and then House with Marc. Definitely my kind of day.

Tulips from Marc – I love spring!

Amy M. sent me this darling necklace! (It's silver, not gold, that was just a weird reflection.) I love the sentiment and the camera charm.

Last night we had our book club birthday celebration for Collette and me. It felt strange not to bring a dinner contribution when I knew they would be short-handed, but also nice to be a little bit spoiled.

Collette brought me this darling bag with HOPE coasters inside. Perfect!

Check out this card/gift certificate holder that Amy made. Seriously. The girls gave me a g.c. to Amazon, which kind of makes you feel like you have a world of possibilities in your hand. (Because you do.)

Today I got this gift from Kacey – a little tin of covered buttons. That is genius.

And a card from my grandpa with cash inside!

I have been so spoiled the last few days. It was actually hard to return to normal life, packing lunches, driving kids, going to the doctor, doing laundry and grocery shopping. Can you get used to a life of luxury that quickly?

And in case you were wondering, I think I'm over the anxiety about turning 40. It feels a lot like 39, and 38, and 37...

spt -- a closer look

This was rather a difficult spt for me. I took so many photos today, but I didn't come up with anything that really jumped out. I couldn't narrow it down to one thing that gets more of my focus, my attention than anything else. I didn't zoom in and get a cool photo that has you wondering what it could be. (And I made the mistake of reading Barb's post before doing mine, and now I wish I had written hers -- exactly.)

This is Eva's blankie. It is in tatters. It isn't even really pink anymore, despite many many washings. It gets dragged everywhere, Linus-style, picking up dirt and dog hair along the way. Eva formed her attachment to this blankie at about 10 months of age, at which point I immediately went and bought a back-up to establish a using/washing rotation. Of course, she wouldn't have anything to do with the back-up, even though at the time they were indistinguishable from each other. (Now the back-up mocks me by providing a frightening contrast to the original, showing us just how much blankie has deteriorated.) It is well-loved, and always on my radar, as we must always, always know its precise location.

Our old upright piano, also well-loved. We inherited it from a dying woman in Seattle, and it was already aged. It is scratched, it is missing a caster, and it is badly in need of a good tuning (although not as badly in need as some of the church pianos!). But it has real ivory keys, and it has served us well. It enables me to teach lessons, providing a much-needed boost to the family budget. I am also teaching my boys to play, even though their practices and lessons are sporadic in nature. Best of all, it is always there, at the ready, for me when I need a little stress release.

I inherited this little baby when Marc upgraded his camera (this one is now his back-up). I got the 50mm lens for my birthday, and my dad surprised me with a zoom lens for Christmas! I can't wait to get experimenting with that one. Marc tracked down the missing battery door on ebay for me, so I could finally dispense with the large, heavy, intimidating, battery grip addition. Woohoo! It's so much lighter and easier for me to use now. This is something that I can turn to every day -- something just for me -- and in as little as 5 minutes, it can give me something happy or creative to lift my spirits.

So while I don't know that this really qualifies as a self-portrait, it did get me thinking. Thanks, as usual, for the challenge, Lelly!