Birthday Extravaganza

It has been a busy, but fun long weekend here. I took yesterday and today off to celebrate my birthday, but the fun began long before that. It started Friday evening. I got my free birthday sandwich from Carolina Cafe for Amanda and then I took the kids to Red Robin for me to eat my free burger. The kids and I finished the evening at Sweet Frog, since we were right there and all.

Saturday morning Noah and I went with another guy at church and his five-year old son to do some work at the senior pastor's house. Our pastor recently had some surgery which keeps him from being able to do any lifting. He had a lot of projects that were left undone, so we came over to haul rubbish, move mulch, move topsoil, clean gutters, etc. We had a great time with that. After I came home for a nap and a shower I got a few Lilly's Pizzas and had the Pierce family over for dinner and cake. A splendid time was had by all.

Sunday we had church in the morning then a family over for lunch in the afternoon (the same family we rode with on Saturday). After that we went to our home fellowship group for a potluck dinner and white elephant gift exchange. That was a lot of fun. That was our fourth time at the home fellowship and I think we are starting to be just members instead of visitors, which is great.

One negative is that I had a cold or allergy attack on Sunday and Monday to where my nose kept dripping. I slept in a little on Monday. I was going to paint in the morning and donate platelets in the afternoon, but I didn't like the idea of having both arms completely immobile while my nose dripped. Amanda and I went to Greek Fiesta for lunch where I got my free birthday meal and then did several errands. I also got a few things done around the house.

My day started with Amanda's homemade cinnamon rolls, which were outstanding. My morning was filled with my flight experience at Burlington Aviation. I got to control the plane on takeoff and did several turns. The real flight was over so quickly that I wish I had savored it more, but it was still a great time. If someone wants to give me about $25,000 I will happily pursue a license and keep up my hours. I'll even fly you around! Otherwise, it's something I can say I've done and I'm happy with that.

We're going to finish up the evening with leftover Lilly's Pizza and leftover birthday cake. I like Tuesday nights because I take Lily to ballet and then hang out in the library and read.

I look back on my 39th year with great fondness. It had its share of pain and tears too, but those have been for our benefit. I really couldn't be much happier than I am now. I certainly am doing much better than I deserve!

Slapstick

I had a hilarious series of unfortunate events last night. As a bit of background, you need to know that my legs got sunburned at the baseball game on Monday. My feet are basically OK, but I didn't put sunscreen on my legs. The reason is that I put the sunscreen on before we went to the beach and I was so busy at the game that I never got around to putting it on. Big mistake.

I put some aloe on my legs last night before bed, but they were still pretty sore. It's tough to get comfortable when the sheet is rubbing against yuor legs. Amanda suggested some sort of analgesic and I decided to take some Alleve that we had in our bathroom. The problem was that I needed water to swallow the pills. I planned on using Lily's toothbrushing glass.

As I worked my way over to Lily's bathroom I tripped on the laundry basket that was in the hall. While recovering my balance I knocked a photo off the decorate shelf we have in the hall and the frame landed right on my left big toe. This hurt quite a bit. It didn't bruise quite like my right big toe, but it did hurt. I took the Alleve and went back to bed.

I of course couldn't sleep because I was in a lot of pain and I was also laughing about how ridiculous the whole thing had become. I was shaky from the shock of the pain of my toe, plus my legs still hurt from the sunburn. I went downstairs to get some ice, but the I was shivering like crazy. I think it was from the pain. I iced my toe for a few minutes and then went back to bed.

I ended up sleeping in this morning instead of running. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow.

Passing the Bug

We've had a rough weekend here. Yesterday was supposed to be the family celebration of my birthday with brunch at Brigs. Unfortunately, Lily had a fever (which she still has), so we had to cancel. Fortunately, with some Motrin she is at the Polar Express in IMAX (and 3-D) with Amanda while I finish up some schoolwork.

Noah is starting to eat the cereal much better, but it isn't helping his sleeping. If anything, we've gone backwards. He now wakes up once in the middle of the night. We had been putting him down around 8:00 PM, but we may have to go back to having him awake with us and then feeding him when we go to bed.

Amanda has been stuffed up for about a week now. She may need to go to the doctor and get some antibiotics. I felt a little rough yesterday, but I think that can be attributed to the end of the semester. I just emailed my last bit of work to my professor and will enjoy some rest for the next couple of weeks, though I do want to get ahead in my reading for next semester.

Let's just hope that everyone is well this time next week. It would sure make Christmas a lot more fun if we are.