the birthday

On Monday I turned 29. I was dreading this day and looking forward to it at the same time. I wanted all the attention (hehe) that a birthday would bring, but I was not happy about turning 29. I only had this one last year and then I would in my 30's! Yikes! I'm not old enough to be almost 30! At least, I don't feel like. I don't think I look like it either. Putting a 3 in front of my age just seems wrong!

Well, Monday came and it started out like any other normal day. I had to clean house, do tons of laundry, discipline the boys, go through coupons....it didn't feel like a birthday. I received tons of phone calls and birthday wishes and pretty much everyone asked me if it felt like my birthday and if I felt a year older. My reply to everyone was, "No. I'm cleaning house and doing laundry just like every other day", and then I would laugh. Come the evening and it would feel like a special day to me. My wonderful husband was taking me out to dinner at Sagano's Japanese Steakhouse, and then we were going to go shopping and use my $20 Kohl's cash and maybe hit a movie later and dessert somewhere. We were just going to take our time and play it by ear. No rush. We just wanted to enjoy the evening and each other's company. Chris got home, freshened up and we headed to mom and dad's to drop the boys off for the night. Then we headed to dinner. This was the kind of restaurant where you sit at a big table and they cook the food right in front of you. All I could think of was Benihana's, but not as big and fancy. My stomach was growling and my mouth was watering just thinking of the delicious food I was about to consume. We watched other chefs around us making food and we were so ready for ours! We were seated next to a nice lady and her teenage son. We striked up a conversation with them very quickly and they were very nice and pleasant to talk to. That's the thing with these kinds of restaurants - you know when you go there that it's not going to be a quiet romantic dinner with just the two of you - no, there are 6 other people sitting at your table and you're all staring at each other. So, since you're forced to sit together, you might as well talk and get to know each other. We were being very entertained by one chef who was at a different table who was throwing pieces of chicken up in the air to each person at the table and you had to try to catch it in your mouth. I watched in horror hoping that our chef didn't expect us to catch food in our mouth. I knew I would be the dork at our table who couldn't catch it and looked like an idiot with my mouth gaping wide open trying to catch food in my mouth like a begging dog! We were served wonton soup and salad with a delicious sesame ginger dressing on it, and then our chef finally came and started performing his neat tricks with his cooking utensils. Very impressive I must say! Then he dumped his big bowl of rice on the griddle and the noodles and the vegetables and started frying them all. Then came the dreaded moment. He took a small piece of chicken, set it on his spatula, looked at me and said, "Are you ready?" Well, whether I was ready or not, I opened my mouth, leaned back and prayed I'd catch it. Nope. It hit my nose. He said, "Try again", and flung another piece at me and.....I caught it!!! I was so happy with myself that I clapped and bounced in my chair like a child who just got a present! It was ridiculous but I was thrilled that I actually caught it. Oh yeah...Chris caught his on the first try too, but I'm sure we all knew that. :)
Dinner was DELISH!!!! That's about all I can say! We kept looking at each other throughout the meal and saying how good it was and how stuffed we were but we couldn't stop eating cuz it tasted so good! I actually ate more than Chris that night. I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that, but hey - I've lost almost 30 lbs. - I deserved that huge meal! Plus, it was my birthday! :)

After dinner we went shopping, found me a dress and some perfume, and then headed to the movies. It was such a wonderful birthday! I had a blast! The only thing I have to complain about is my shoes. I wore these black heels that have a really pointed toe. Well, my feet are wide at the top and pretty much a square (so Chris tells me), and all night my toes kept getting squished in the front of my shoes. Let me just say that my toes felt like they were going to fall off and I thought that when I finally got to take them off at the end of the night, all my toes were going to be fused together into one gigantic toe! And as for the toes today? - two days later? Yea, they still hurt!

These are some pictures I took earlier in the day of my lovely flowers outside my house.

















Aren't they gorgeous? I'm so happy whoever lived here before us planted all those flowers. I love watching them bloom every spring! I have no green thumb whatsoever and it's so nice to have beautiful flowers come up each year and I don't have to lift a finger for it! :)

Here are my birthday goodies!








(the perfume is from the boys)

Thank you, Chris, for a wonderful birthday! I love you so much! You're the best and spoil me too much! Well, not too much - don't think you have to stop :) hehe