The Day I Turned 40

Forty is good! Although it's kind of funny that Sunday night I woke drenched in sweat. Did I say "drenched"? I really meant "swimming in" sweat. I think that was my body's way of saying "Welcome to the club!".

I was born at 8:06 pm on April 19th. That's about the exact time we left Mom and Dad's Sunday night and we had some fun commenting about how now it was officially my birthday. When we got home and tucked the children into bed, Legare stopped me as I was leaving his room...
"Hey Mom."
"Yes, Legare?"
"I just wanted to say Happy Official Birthday."

Sweet child!

So, let me run down for you the events of the birthday weekend - it was pretty fun! On Friday I was supposed to go to lunch with two of my girlfriends. We always get together on each other's special days. This time we were going to the new restaurant BLU that I talked about the other week. I was very excited.

Well, when we arrived (I rode with one of the friends) and got inside I could see my husband's face. I thought, "that crazy guy, he said he wouldn't meet us today, but he did!". I was kind of excited. Then I realized that he was sitting at a large table with 4 other of my friends and family. A surprise birthday luncheon - just for me! How wonderful. After my friend Lisa and I rounded the corner I was told that we beat 3 others getting there, my mother and two other of my best girlfriends.

My friend Lisa, whom I arrived with, is the new owner of the hotel and restaurant and she was the one who gently guided my husband to making sure he did something special for me. It was wonderful! The atmosphere is nothing but happy (how can it not be with the ocean as the backdrop?), the weather was sunshiny and perfect, and to be surrounded by my friends and family - well that was priceless! I could go on and on about this luncheon, but I won't.

OK, maybe I will go on. But not on and on. There were menu cards at each place at the table. My name, the occasion, the date and the menu choices were all printed out these precious cards. The champagne flowed for toasts, and even the gifts somehow managed to all be color coordinated with each other and with the restaurant. (I couldn't find my camera on Friday so I don't currently have pictures, but some were taken, and when they get emailed to me, I'll share them with you). After all of the guests had arrived, Bryan shared the first birthday toast with us and then left us girls with the luncheon.

After the wonderful lunch most of my friends had to get back to children, but me, my mother and the two original "going to lunch for my birthday" girls headed to the bar for one more celebratory libation. This celebration truly was perfect!

Saturday was garage sale time. After a breakfast in bed fixed by Legare (waffles cooked on the iron by himself and coffee just the way I like it with cream and chocolate sauce - my version of a mocha latte) we were off. I don't usually do the garage sale thing, but my neighbor (one of the luncheon celebrants) called, and since our neighborhood was having a community wide sale we thought it would be fun to tool around the neighborhood to see if we could find some treasures. We also went to neighboring neighborhoods to look around. And that's where my finds came.

4 bar stools for $1.00 a piece. These are going in the playroom to offer additional "lean to" type seating. At the next sale I purchased a slightly used HydroSlide Pro XL for $10.00. Pretty good bargain considering husband was going to be spending close to $2oo.00 for one on some not so distant day in the future. At the same house I also purchased a pair of Hush Puppies brand bucks for $3.00 for Legare. These shoes didn't even have a scuff on the sole - I doubt they had ever been worn. They didn't even have lace marks on the tongue! My neighbor got some things for her niece including a $3.00 smocked dress that didn't have any stains. Husband and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the leaves from the pool, pruning plants in the yard and enjoying the outdoors.

Sunday - the official day - we started off the day by going to the Marina Variety Store for breakfast (I had the special - a shrimp, spinach and portabello omelet), a quick jaunt to church and then to Lowe's for another part of my present, plants and flowers to plant with the children; these went on the front porch.

We then went to Mom and Dad's for a birthday supper of homemade meatball subs and homemade banana pudding. Did someone say YUM! I got that Hamby's Catering cook book from Mom - yee ha! - and a nifty cooler cart and beach/boat necessities from my brother and his family.

The day was great! The whole weekend was great! So far, being 40 has been great! I don't really know what all of the fuss is about. The only thing so far that does stink is the sweat (which actually hasn't "stunk" in the true sense of the word - ha), and today's mammogram. I would say the beginning of that procedure will mark the official end of my birthday celebrating.

But then I'll be quickly off to Lisa's birthday lunch to begin that celebration. She's 41.