One year older. . . and wiser, too?

I am aware this picture is small. I uploaded it the standard way, with Blogger, so you can all click on it and view it bigger. If I used Photobucket, like I usually do, the size of the image when you click on it would be exactly the same. And maybe this way, you can see some of the words.

After feeding me breakfast on the morning of my birthday (this past Friday), my family presented me with this crossword puzzle. Then, as I guessed different answers, they would present me with the gift (if they were here; some were still coming via overnight shipping, and others were just for later during the day or otherwise). I am good at crossword puzzles, but this one had me stumped on several answers. Tyler kept asking to leave, because she thought it was taking so long.

My husband stayed up late into the night working on this for me. Then, in the middle of the night, he received a warning that the site he was working on was going to be undergoing maintenance at 1:00 a.m. He was about beside himself, but he was able to save the work in progress and continue on it later. What was I doing while he worked on this thoughtful birthday project. I was out cold. Apparently, Cole's birthday was exhausting for me! Who knows why?

So, did I have a good birthday? Yes. Did I do anything special? Nothing spectacular, but yes. I got my hair colored in the morning at an appointment scheduled by my husband. Watched one of my new videos. Better Off Dead is still hilarious, in some ways even more so. It is so ridiculously silly and so ridiculously 80's. After that, I got ready for the day and Britt and I picked up our good friends Paul and Lisa Macdonald for dinner at the Swingin' Steak and dessert at Twin Rocks Cafe. The scenery on the way there was gorgeous. The food was great. The company was fantastic. I think we could have visited all night. I love that about hanging out with them. It is always such a good time.

When we came home, the house was still intact. My van was clean, inside and out, because my husband and kids had worked on it all afternoon. It was just a good day all around.

My poor husband had been stressed out all week, trying to figure out what to get for me. I told him I had already got some things for myself (like the blog book), so I didn't want him to worry about it. But he did worry about it. In the future, I will have to be sure to let him know what I want, so we can both be happy BEFORE my birthday and not just on that day. Thanks so much, Britt. It really was a wonderful birthday. And thanks for including the kids. They LOVED being in on the secret.