Birthdays and stories
So, after much scheming and tossing around of options and desperate googling (just in case I had somehow MISSED the opening of a fabulous new Indian or Thai restaurant in town), I finally came to the last-ditch conclusion...that if I wanted a nice meal for Patrick's birthday, I would have to do some cooking myself.
Oops. I always hate that news.
But it was worth it, especially because I did some of the cooking the day before, and Patrick made the cake himself, as - I am ashamed to admit - has become our annual tradition. (He's such a great cake cook that even non-vegans genuinely adore the vegan chocolate cakes he makes, and when you add in the CFS as a deciding factor, it just ended up making sense to split the cooking duties that way this year, again. MrD and I took care of the cake decorations, at least...but the cake itself was so delicious that I couldn't feel too guilty about not making it myself.)
And then it turned out there'd been a miscommunication, so our guests turned up carrying ANOTHER delicious, multi-layer, homemade vegan chocolate cake! Which I have to say is the happiest cake accident that has ever happened in my experience. Of course, we HAD to eat some of both, JUST to be polite...what a shame. ;) So in other words, it was a really fun day.
What I really want to say, though, is: beyond party-scheming and cooking, beyond cake and balloon-blowing, what I really kept on thinking about yesterday is just how lucky and happy I am to be with Patrick. It'll be our tenth anniversary of couple-dom this coming summer. Nearly ten years into our relationship, I keep on having fun with him, being blown away by his writing and insights, being comforted by him when bad things happen, and loving him more and more as I get to know him in new ways, especially as I watch him being such an amazing father to our son.
You can read all of his published short stories through his website, but in case you've never read any of them, here are a couple of my favorites (both originally published in Realms of Fantasy): Uncle Vernon's Lie and When the Dragon Falls.
Happy (one-day-late) birthday, Patrick!
Oops. I always hate that news.
But it was worth it, especially because I did some of the cooking the day before, and Patrick made the cake himself, as - I am ashamed to admit - has become our annual tradition. (He's such a great cake cook that even non-vegans genuinely adore the vegan chocolate cakes he makes, and when you add in the CFS as a deciding factor, it just ended up making sense to split the cooking duties that way this year, again. MrD and I took care of the cake decorations, at least...but the cake itself was so delicious that I couldn't feel too guilty about not making it myself.)
And then it turned out there'd been a miscommunication, so our guests turned up carrying ANOTHER delicious, multi-layer, homemade vegan chocolate cake! Which I have to say is the happiest cake accident that has ever happened in my experience. Of course, we HAD to eat some of both, JUST to be polite...what a shame. ;) So in other words, it was a really fun day.
What I really want to say, though, is: beyond party-scheming and cooking, beyond cake and balloon-blowing, what I really kept on thinking about yesterday is just how lucky and happy I am to be with Patrick. It'll be our tenth anniversary of couple-dom this coming summer. Nearly ten years into our relationship, I keep on having fun with him, being blown away by his writing and insights, being comforted by him when bad things happen, and loving him more and more as I get to know him in new ways, especially as I watch him being such an amazing father to our son.
You can read all of his published short stories through his website, but in case you've never read any of them, here are a couple of my favorites (both originally published in Realms of Fantasy): Uncle Vernon's Lie and When the Dragon Falls.
Happy (one-day-late) birthday, Patrick!