Birthday recap

No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth after my last blog post. In case you were wondering!

My birthday week/weekend was a lot of fun. I had intended to write about it right away, but then it was Monday morning before I knew it, and that kicked off a really busy, really stressful week at work. By this past Wednesday afternoon I was crying in my office, it was so bad. After that, though, things improved, and I managed to end the week yesterday feeling okay again. Exhausted, but okay. So here I am.

Let me rewind to my birthday, March 23rd. When I got to work that morning, I caught a teacher-friend of mine in the process of putting a "Happy Birthday" banner over my office door. It was so sweet of her! It really started my day off on a happy note. I made her pose for a picture to capture the moment!

Other gifts were soon to follow. A big card made by the kids (and teacher) in the autistic class, along with a little decorative bucket filled with candy and an assortment of fun pencils. A pot of fringe tulips and a card from a handful of other teachers. A beautiful bouquet of spring flowers and balloons sent by my parents. Hugs from several of my favorite students. It was probably the best day at work I've had all year!

The fringe tulips after they finally opened. Aren't they gorgeous?!

When I got home, Gregg gave me a water lily bulb he special-ordered for me to go in the container pond where the goldfish (rescued from the school aquariums) live. It doesn't look like much now, but it's going to be beautiful in a few months. The variety is called "Georgia Peach". 

My other birthday gifts were a new pair of walking shoes, and a nice set of knives (sorely needed in my kitchen).

On to Saturday, March 25th. My little get-together was fun, although only Marla and Martina were able to make it. I'd hoped Martina's husband, Will, would be able to come, but he had to work until too late. I also urged Gregg to invite his friend Ben, but he declined to do so on the grounds that Ben, although a nice and fun guy, likes to drink beer and when he drinks beer, he often gets loud and kind of annoying. I told Gregg I didn't mind (I wanted him to have some male company and Ben's a good guy despite his faults) but Gregg said he didn't want to risk him making a nuisance of himself. 

Marla did bring her little girl, Carsen, for a while right at first. As always, her daddy came and picked her up after she'd visited for a little while and had some food. That little girl is really growing up.

Carsen and Poppy

For food, I remembered something we'd done at a previous workplace for a staff lunch: crock pot hot dogs! Yes, hot dogs can be heated for a couple of hours in a crock pot and they turn out perfectly steamed and delicious. The night before I made an awesome batch of homemade hot dog chili (if I do say so myself!) that could be kept warm in a smaller crock. I also made my homemade guacamole that always gets raves, bought a couple of different kinds of dip (including salsa), and several kinds of chips and crackers. The first local strawberries are ready early this year, so I went and bought some and made strawberry daiquiris for drinks. And for dessert, we had a bakery-purchased caramel cake. It was all so easy and so good! Marla brought a beautiful platter of fruit with a yogurt dip, and Martina brought chocolates and candy purchased on her recent trip to Germany to visit her grandmother. We weren't lacking for good things to eat!

We had fun. The weather was nice, so we spent several hours on the back porch, talking and drinking daiquiris.

The next thing I did to celebrate my birthday was almost a week later, this past Wednesday. I went out to dinner with Little P. and his mom. As you all may remember, P. and I share a birthday so we had to do something to celebrate! We went to a fancy build-your-own hamburger restaurant (his choice), and I gave him a couple of new books for his gift. He started reading one of them at the table, so I consider that a success. :) The funny thing about giving him books was that my gift from him and his mom was a gift card to the bookstore! Haha! We both love books.

Before we left the restaurant, we had to take our traditional birthday selfie! I look terrible in it because that was the afternoon I'd cried at work, and my face was still puffy and my makeup was gone. Seeing my favorite little boy made me feel better, though! We're now 48 and 10 years old.

The inside of my birthday card from him.