Yesterday was my 37th birthday, which, at the very least, put an end to what Tom described as the last day I’ll ever have to be 36. But honestly, it turned out to be a fun and relaxing day, the kind of day we should have more often.
It started out, unfortunately, by waking up at 5:30am. The puppy is taking some time getting used to our sleep schedule, so I’m suffering from some sleep deprivation. But anyway, it just made my birthday longer. When I came out of the bedroom, I found this waiting for me…
Kudos to Tom for helping the doggies pick out a card (actually two cards). And isn’t is amazing that the dogs on the card look so much like Roscoe and Oatmeal–the poodle on the right is Oatmeal, of course, and the little white dog with tan ears on the left is Roscoe. So cute. They were very sweet and got me Return of Spinal Tap.
When Tom woke up he gave me a present, then informed me I would be getting gifts throughout the day. The first present, actually two presents, were This is Spinal Tap and Lego Indiana Jones. Then he told me that I would be receiving a package later in the morning which I should open and then read the message on the packing slip. Very intriguing.
I spent the morning being very lazy (I was hoping to get a nap in, but no such luck). I decided to watch Chocolat, which I had recorded onto our DVR in April. I had seen in when it came out, but wanted to watch it again. I’m not sure what compelled me to watch it yesterday morning, but it turned out to be quite the coincidence.
When the package arrived, I opened it to find that it contained three bottles of the Aveeno Foaming Bubble Bath that I’ve been wanting. The message on the packing slip directed me to look under the cushions of the brown couch. There I found two books on Jane Austen (I’m re-reading all of her books this summer), Persuasion (the only Jane Austen I didn’t have) and a bag of Red Vines. I was told to enjoy a long bubble bath while reading and enjoying Red Vines. I’ve never eaten and bathed before, but I can’t wait to try! So sweet of Tom and I was impressed by all the planning he had to do to pull off the surprise.
Then Adana came over and brought lots of treats so that we could have afternoon tea. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the tea set up. But she made little cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches and chicken and cranberry sandwiches, and brought yummy cookies, strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar, and a piece of chocolate cake on which she had iced “Happy Birthday Heidi.” Of course, we played Scrabble while enjoying our afternoon tea.
I especially loved being able to play “AyeAye” even though it’s not in the Scrabble dictionary. I mean, how many times in my life will I be able to make that word? And thanks to Adana for letting me get away with it. 🙂 And she gave me the sweetest, most thoughtful gift.
In the mug were 53 slips of folded paper. I have been instructed to pick one out every Thursday until my next birthday. I’ve been told that each slip of paper contains an inspirational saying, often one about friendship. The first one I picked was…
When Tom came home Adana and I went to get manicures and pedicures. It was such a nice day that we walked there. I felt very lucky that I could spend so much time with Adana–we’re both so busy that we never get to spend long chunks of time together like that, so it felt luxurious. And I was very happy with how my finger and toe nails turned out. I especially like the flowers on my big toes.
When we returned home it was time to tire out Roscoe so that he would sleep through our being out for dinner. We took him and Oatmeal on a long walk, and when we returned home we wouldn’t let him relax until it was time for us to leave. When it was time to go, we put him in his crate with his favorite chew toys. He barked for a few minutes, but seemed to settle down. He didn’t make a peep when we returned, so I assumed he slept or quietly played with his toys during our absence.
Tom and I enjoyed our quiet dinner at The Raymond, which I chose because it’s a nice restaurant very nearby. To start, I had the blue crab and avocado salad and Tom had the butternut squash soup. For our main courses, Tom had the chicken stuffed with goat cheese and I had the filet mignon with blue cheese hash. Yum!
But I had to save room for dessert, so I’m looking forward to finishing last night’s dinner for lunch today! Dessert was a delicious chocolate cake with a liquid chocolate center. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture before it was devoured. Oops.
When we got home, Tom gave me yet another gift. Imagine my surprise when I opened it to find the novel, Chocolat and it’s sequel, The Girl with No Shadow. How weird is it that I decided to watch the movie that very morning??? Very weird!
All in all, a very memorable day. Thank you to everyone who called, emailed and wrote on my Facebook page. Special commendations to Dad and to Gram and Gramps who sang Happy Birthday over the phone to me. 🙂
Life with Oatmeal 