Birthday Girl
It’s not every day a girl turns 39. As a matter of fact, I’d never done it before, and I bet I’ll never do it again.
Instead of spending the auspicious day basking in the attention of my family. Instead, LibbyK, LittleMiss, and I loaded the van and headed to southern Ohio. We got a much later start than we had planned owing to the fact I needed to pick Hunter up from school and take him to work and to the fact that my battery died in the driveway. (This took about 40 minutes to get jumped started as I had to track down a neighbor, wait for children to get off the bus, and then figure out exactly which one was the battery in the unfamiliar territory of a Saturn minivan.)
The weather was perfect–for staying home. Twenty-three degrees, snow flurries, bits of blinding snow, and the Hand of God to keep us safe the whole way.
I wanted to wait until we were at least in Ohio to stop for supper, which meant we didn’t pull into the Bob Evans in Youngstown until almost 7:00. I didn’t think I was hungry at all. But, about six minutes after my chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes came and there were only about five bites left in the bowl, I revised my opinion. My girls were equally famished. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either one of them clean their plates in a restaurant before!
Then it was back on the road, U’s or Bust. We pulled in before midnight, which was great, and enjoyed a warm welcome. Plus, I got my own bed, heated with a water bottle. Such comfort!
Saturday was spent in fun and included a taco dinner with the H’s. Sunday, my happy birthday, the girls and I went to Emmanuel Baptist in Xenia, our old church. It was a lot of fun to catch up with folks and gawk at the teens who were just kids when we left. My friend L gave me some wonderful birthday presents, including a first-edition of a Sara Teasdale poetry book!
That’s a delicious Pear Custard posing as my birthday cake. YUM!Sunday night, we loaded up and drove to the H’s. Thanks to my expert navigational skills, we went East instead of West and added 40 minutes to the trip. Ooops. But, it all worked out well in the end. My two dear friends and I left all the children (except the nursing baby) and went to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. Surprisingly, I ordered shrimp, something I’ve not done since high school, I bet. They were yummy little crustaceans. And, they were covered in crust!
Monday took me to an Amish bakery and an Amish store. My friend C lives in the Middle of Nowhere Amish-land. These weren’t the touristy Amish places but stores where Mennonite and German Baptists would buy their flour and cheese. Later that night, we all played hide and seek in the dark in C’s huge, new house. Such fun!
Tuesday I got a much later start than I had planned. (I also think my battery was dead, but that’s happened so often lately, I’m not sure.) It was another perfect day–to stay home. This time, I saw a number of cars of the road, some quite smashed up. We were safe and totally inhaled another tasty Bob Evan’s meal. The seven hour trip wound up taking nine long hours and I missed Hunter’s choir concert, but we were home and safe.
You may think the fun was done, but you would be wrong! Waiting for me was a big Happy Birthday sign with seven envelopes hanging around it and a dozen long-stemmed red roses, my presents from TGD. There were either presents in the envelopes or clues to go searching for presents in the house. What did my generous husband give to me? A mug, a David Feldman book, a beautiful Christmas angel (which I collect), and gift certificates to Nittany Quill (stationery store), Bath and Body Works, Barnes and Noble, and Panera! Wow. I was overwhelmed.
Happy, happy birthday to me!
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