Another year older

Last Sunday was my birthday, and somehow I was able to expand it into a three day celebration weekend. I'm still not sure how I maneuvered it, but it seemed pretty ingenious.  

I'm a little behind in posting due to busyness, but I'll be making up for it. 

Honestly, my three day extravaganza felt (a little) deserved.  Last year, in the beginning of March, after taking care of my two foster toddlers for a year, they began their first weekend visitations with their grandparents.  So after a year of sacrificing nearly all my time, I had two weekends of freedom in a row, and it felt amazing.

But then...Covid.  The week leading up to my birthday last year was the week the national lockdowns began, and everywhere seemingly shut down at once.  Two days before my birthday I got an email saying the visitations were canceled indefinitely, and any plans I had for my birthday went out the window.

My birthday last year fell on a cold, rainy Saturday, and I was stuck inside the house all weekend with two small kids.  (And every weekend after for a long time.)  My family made it as special as possible, but the onset of mild Covid depression was real.

So to have what felt like a three day party this year - with beautiful, warm, sunny weather to boot - was definitely appreciated!

So what did we do for three days of birthday fun?

Well, on Friday afternoon my husband took off work, and he, my son and I went to the Frist Center in Nashville to see the new Picasso exhibit.  My last visit to the Frist was over a decade ago, and it was so nice to go back.

To be honest, Picasso is not one of my favorite artists, but as one of the two creators of Cubism, I understand his importance to the world of art.  This exhibit, titled "Figures" displayed many of his "portraits" - particularly of women.  If it is true that "great art" is art that creates discussion, then most definitely Picasso was a great artist.  He gave us a lot to talk about.

(He also gave us a lot to laugh about, as his favorite subject - or maybe I should say his two favorite subjects - were the centerpiece of nearly every work.)

There was something I really liked about this one.

It really was an interesting exhibit.

There was a simultaneous exhibit of "The American West in Art."

(Complete with disclaimers explaining the correct viewpoints on race and subject matter next to nearly every painting.  I was honestly grateful the whole exhibit wasn't canceled for being un-PC.)

There were some BEAUTIFUL paintings; it was a happy surprise bonus!

This was followed by Mexican food in Nashville.  By some miracle, we found an uncrowded restaurant on Friday evening.  We could even hear ourselves talk. 🙂

On Saturday, I gave my husband a list of tasks I needed done in the house, and he spent the whole afternoon and evening working on them, including one really big one: installing shelves in my laundry room!

I forgot to take a before pic 😖, but I will post on that soon.  It was one of those little/big things that will change my life on a daily basis as my laundry room now feels WAY more organized - only eighteen years after moving in...

So while my husband worked, I worked too, and I gave my son a few tasks as well.  Most everything we did were things that needed to be done at some point anyway; but my birthday request of a "task day" got them taken care of.

My son and I were cleaning and organizing; my husband built the shelves (a bigger request than I realized) and finally connected my dvd player to the new TV he got himself for Christmas.  

Since we were all working together, it didn't feel all that much like work, and I celebrated getting it all done by spending the evening taking a bath (something I longed to do when the foster kids were with me, but it seemed like I just never had time.)

Every year on my birthday I go to the pet store and buy my dogs and cat a bunch of special treats.

That way we ALL get to celebrate!

Wizard made quick work of his bone.

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I saw a table at church with a sign that said "free flowers" and it was yellow daffodil bouquets in mason jars.

I had told my son and husband they could skip buying flowers for me this year (because I was leaving for the House of Goodwill the next day), so it was a lovely surprise to receive spring flowers anyway!

The afternoon was so beautiful we decided to all walk the dogs together.  My wonderful neighbors, Jim and Jeanne, asked us to stop at their house for some "perishable gifts."  Jeanne had some homemade strawberry jam for me, and they picked me a bouquet of daffodils from their extensive collection in their yard:

And I had the perfect vase for them!  I had found this vintage Snoopy vase years ago at an antique store for $8, but I'd never used it.  I loved it too much to part with it, but it seemed kind of weird to buy myself flowers for it, considering it's message.

But this was perfect!

And I'm not kidding about Jim and Jeanne having a daffodil collection; there are five different types of daffodils here!  They look so beautiful grouped together; they have inspired me to start my own daffodil collection.

So after letting my family off the hook with the flower buying, I still ended up with beautiful daffodils, not once, but twice!

My husband gave me a new version of one of our favorite games, "Ticket to Ride."

This one is called "Rails and Sails" and was a lot of fun.

And it's always nice to win on your birthday. 😉

This was followed by dinner made by my husband, who is a very good cook!

It was my special request: Caesar salad (he makes a great one) and surf & turf.

There was also ice cream cake and a Rock Band competition (my son resurrected the Play Station 2 for this) and it was fun!

And one last thing: since my son is frustrated (and probably right) regarding my lack of cool shoes, for my gift from him he told me to pick out any pair of Adidas Ultraboost I wanted, and he would order them.  So these are my new shoes:

So while I am very proud of my son for being so good with money (he has definitely learned to be a saver); he is also very generous in giving.  He just started sponsoring a child monthly in the Dominican Republic, and he is very open handed (and hearted) about giving to those he loves.

To be a saver AND a giver is just who he needs to be.

I have great shoes AND a great family.  What a great birthday.

Thank you God, for another year of life. 💗  May we keep our eyes on the blessings!