It's good to be golden
It's hard to believe my birthday isn't even HERE yet. My dad and step-mom took me out for Thai food two weeks ago. They also got me a card, a cake and a stuffed penguin. If you remember the drama from last year, you know how pleased I am that they were early :-) It also meant a lot to me that they came to visit us, even if they couldn't really come inside. It's the first time my dad has ever come to see me, and I moved out eight years ago! (The reason is that he and my step-mom are deathly allergic to cats, and I've always had at least one.) Anyway, they stayed at a hotel, and we spent a lot of time at the mall and the park and their room. Ben loved getting to see his "Uncle D'ul" (that's Daniel in Ben-speak).
My mom took me shopping this weekend. I got a new sweater and a comfy weekend shirt, and a NEW PURSE! (Previous purse was a birthday present from Stephen two years ago. It had a mishap with some barbecue sauce shortly after I got it, and I didn't have the heart to replace it because I knew he'd be sad.) But two years is an appropriate length of time for a purse to last. I usually keep mine for two to three years. Anyway, all the blogging I've been doing about how quality is worth a little extra in price really stuck with me when we were purse shopping. I could see how the cheap purses were going to wear out, just like every other cheap purse I ever got. And I wanted one that would stand up to Benjamin and various spills and whatever else. AND I wanted a long strap, which is insanely hard to find these days. Anyway, I kept finding purses that seemed to fit my criteria, but I just wasn't sure. I put a few on hold and we kept shopping. Finally, at one of those little expensive shoe stores in Southcenter, I saw it. My purse. It's Italian leather, designed by Opale. It's so beautiful I could cry. I descibed all the attributes of the perfect purse while holding my thumb over the price tag. But my mom grabbed it and saw that it was $100. Yipes. The lady at the counter said she'd give us $10 off. After much negotiating and haggling by me (my mom helped by pointing out that many other stores had their handbags on sale for 40 to 50 percent off) I got the price down to like $80 and my mom bought it for me. "But that's it! We're done now," she said. Ha ha, I figured we'd be done after the purse anyway. :-) We also went to Olive Garden that night and had our Borrachinni's cake. (Note to self: Don't get cherry filling again.) Ben sang Happy Birthday a little and it was very cute.
Next with the birthday love, was a gift that arrived from Brad and Bryna on Monday. It took me 800 years to open it, it was stuffed and wrapped and wrapped some more. Ben enjoyed helping with that part. Finally, I find the actual package, unwrap it some more, and its a scrap-booked photo collage of pictures that Brad and Bryna took of me and Ben at the beach during their July visit. (I knew there was a reason she hadn't emailed them to me like I asked) I had no idea she scrapbooked at all, but this was AMAZING! At the bottom she included "God couldn't be everywhere, therefore he made mothers" - Jewish proverb. That's probably what made me cry first and foremost. And that it was such a thoughtful gift that must have taken her so much time and effort. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm still trying to decide where to put it. Stephen says dining room, I'm thinking living room. (I found out from Brad that his mom - who I knew was really into scrapbooking, she made their wedding album - has been getting Bryna into it recently by getting her a lot of supplies to get started.) Anyway, they're starting to get themselves a track record for these types of things now. For Christmas in 2004, Brad made us a book that featured photos of our new house during construction and move in. I'm so glad to have it, especially now that we don't live there any more. I love nolstagic personalized presents the best. :-)
If you have a bad relationship with your mother-in-law, you really shouldn't read this one.
Yesterday, when Ellen insisted on meeting Stephen in Olympia, we figured she had something for me. Sure enough, when we got home, Stephen handed me a card and a small wrapped present. The gift was a Lindt 65 percent cocoa Madagascar origin dark chocolate bar. (Yes, I'm a chocolate snob, yes it was good, and yes she knew what kind to get, though I hadn't tried this one in particular before.) The card said "It's not your birthday" on the front and "yet" on the inside. It was homemade with penguins on the front. Inside was taped a $20 Starbucks card. OMG, does my MIL know me or what? Seriously, that in itself is a wonderful birthday presnent. Well, due to a few things Stephen said (or didn't say) I kind of knew that wasn't everything. Well, I was telling him all about my horrible day yesterday (I'd like a new job, kthx) and he offered to cheer me up. It turns out that not only is there another present from her, there's ONE FOR EACH DAY BETWEEN NOW AND MY BIRTHDAY! She devised this game thing, she was going to mail them so they each arrived one at a time and it was like a mystery. But then she had ankle surgery and that didn't happen, so she just gave them to Stephen and told him to give them to me one per day. But since I was so miserable, he'd be willing to let me open another one. I thought about it, but declined. Just knowing there were more presents cheered me up enough. I didn't want to cheat. But I sure can't wait to go home for lunch today and see what's waiting for me!
My mom took me shopping this weekend. I got a new sweater and a comfy weekend shirt, and a NEW PURSE! (Previous purse was a birthday present from Stephen two years ago. It had a mishap with some barbecue sauce shortly after I got it, and I didn't have the heart to replace it because I knew he'd be sad.) But two years is an appropriate length of time for a purse to last. I usually keep mine for two to three years. Anyway, all the blogging I've been doing about how quality is worth a little extra in price really stuck with me when we were purse shopping. I could see how the cheap purses were going to wear out, just like every other cheap purse I ever got. And I wanted one that would stand up to Benjamin and various spills and whatever else. AND I wanted a long strap, which is insanely hard to find these days. Anyway, I kept finding purses that seemed to fit my criteria, but I just wasn't sure. I put a few on hold and we kept shopping. Finally, at one of those little expensive shoe stores in Southcenter, I saw it. My purse. It's Italian leather, designed by Opale. It's so beautiful I could cry. I descibed all the attributes of the perfect purse while holding my thumb over the price tag. But my mom grabbed it and saw that it was $100. Yipes. The lady at the counter said she'd give us $10 off. After much negotiating and haggling by me (my mom helped by pointing out that many other stores had their handbags on sale for 40 to 50 percent off) I got the price down to like $80 and my mom bought it for me. "But that's it! We're done now," she said. Ha ha, I figured we'd be done after the purse anyway. :-) We also went to Olive Garden that night and had our Borrachinni's cake. (Note to self: Don't get cherry filling again.) Ben sang Happy Birthday a little and it was very cute.
Next with the birthday love, was a gift that arrived from Brad and Bryna on Monday. It took me 800 years to open it, it was stuffed and wrapped and wrapped some more. Ben enjoyed helping with that part. Finally, I find the actual package, unwrap it some more, and its a scrap-booked photo collage of pictures that Brad and Bryna took of me and Ben at the beach during their July visit. (I knew there was a reason she hadn't emailed them to me like I asked) I had no idea she scrapbooked at all, but this was AMAZING! At the bottom she included "God couldn't be everywhere, therefore he made mothers" - Jewish proverb. That's probably what made me cry first and foremost. And that it was such a thoughtful gift that must have taken her so much time and effort. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm still trying to decide where to put it. Stephen says dining room, I'm thinking living room. (I found out from Brad that his mom - who I knew was really into scrapbooking, she made their wedding album - has been getting Bryna into it recently by getting her a lot of supplies to get started.) Anyway, they're starting to get themselves a track record for these types of things now. For Christmas in 2004, Brad made us a book that featured photos of our new house during construction and move in. I'm so glad to have it, especially now that we don't live there any more. I love nolstagic personalized presents the best. :-)
If you have a bad relationship with your mother-in-law, you really shouldn't read this one.
Yesterday, when Ellen insisted on meeting Stephen in Olympia, we figured she had something for me. Sure enough, when we got home, Stephen handed me a card and a small wrapped present. The gift was a Lindt 65 percent cocoa Madagascar origin dark chocolate bar. (Yes, I'm a chocolate snob, yes it was good, and yes she knew what kind to get, though I hadn't tried this one in particular before.) The card said "It's not your birthday" on the front and "yet" on the inside. It was homemade with penguins on the front. Inside was taped a $20 Starbucks card. OMG, does my MIL know me or what? Seriously, that in itself is a wonderful birthday presnent. Well, due to a few things Stephen said (or didn't say) I kind of knew that wasn't everything. Well, I was telling him all about my horrible day yesterday (I'd like a new job, kthx) and he offered to cheer me up. It turns out that not only is there another present from her, there's ONE FOR EACH DAY BETWEEN NOW AND MY BIRTHDAY! She devised this game thing, she was going to mail them so they each arrived one at a time and it was like a mystery. But then she had ankle surgery and that didn't happen, so she just gave them to Stephen and told him to give them to me one per day. But since I was so miserable, he'd be willing to let me open another one. I thought about it, but declined. Just knowing there were more presents cheered me up enough. I didn't want to cheat. But I sure can't wait to go home for lunch today and see what's waiting for me!