birthday wrap up

yesterday was the perfect birthday. i woke up and found david home (he had taken the day off) and rushing out the door to take augustine to preschool. he had packed his lunch and everything! i laid around in my pjs and read the birthday cards the kids had made me until olive & david came back, wherein david made me any breakfast i wanted - i chose turkey bacon, milk, and an orange. i know, so exciting! but it sounded/was good. then BAM lance armstrong was on the daily show! happy birthday jenny! finally around 10 i decided it was time to get out of my pjs and do something. i got dressed and headed out alone to run some errands. oh! i love solo time. i mean, sure i love my kids but it was wonderful to do my errands at my own pace and not have to mediate WWIII in the backseat. amiright or amiright? one small but fun thing i was looking forward to that day was raiding my BFFs (maggie!) closet for a pair of shoes to wear to davids company party (which is tonight). maggie has a lovely, colorful wardrobe and with permission of course i went to her house and tried on a metric ton of her beautiful shoes. (perks of having a key to their house!) while out i thought i'd treat myself to a peppermint mocha from crimson cup. hi, starbucks can suck an egg comparatively. i bet i ruminated how amazing that peppermint mocha was for a good hour if i'm honest with myself. localvores, get there and get one! my friend chelsea was working there and it was nice to see a friendly face while waiting for my drink and shoot the breeze. she asked me what i was up to and i told her it was my birthday. (little did i know she already knew! which you'll read about in a second)

after picking up augustine from preschool the kids laid down for a nap and i became a sloth and played various games online. (sidebar: this is my most recent game addiction: electric box. LOVE). the kids woke up and i put on a christmas themed pandora station while making peppermint fudge and david hauled all of the decorations and stockings up from the basement. this has become a fun birthday tradition the last few years, putting up the tree. i love christmas trees!

the plan all day was to go bowling with our friends nathan and meridith. i think we were meeting them at 7 or so. so imagine my surprise when i get there and ALL OF MY FRIENDS ARE THERE for a surprise party for me! i cried! david also ordered the most mouthwatering carrot cake with "cream cheese" icing from pattycake vegan bakery. oh! people! you have no idea how luscious this cake was! i umm might or might not have eaten some for breakfast. and lunch. we bowled and ate cheese sticks and drank beer and i just couldn't believe how many of my friends were there! almost my entire small group from church made it! see, i've been so deep in this funk and i felt so amazingly loved and cared for yesterday. between internet messages, email, phone calls, cards, and face to face comments almost 80 people told me happy birthday! any other year i would have laughed when i walked into the party but this year i just cried and cried. i dont think people could have known what their presence meant to me. and there were such heartfelt expressions of friendship that i was on the receiving end of that GAH i just don't know how yesterday ever could be topped! people i didn't really expect to come out (not that i expected anyone!) were right in line to give me a hug and shout and sing. God gave me an amazing circle of family and friends that is FOR SURE.