The Little Birthday Things

I'm not a big birthday celebrator.  I mean me, personally.  I don't mind going to a big bash or toasting with champagne with anyone who wants to throw down for their birthday.  Birthdays just weren't a big deal in our house.   We would go out to dinner and my parents would get me something for a gift when I was young.  Today, we still go out to dinner and they get me a little gift.

For the past several years, they renewed our membership to the museum of art.  I remember when I was in college and I had a little Honda Accord.  I loved my Honda, but it needed tires as the current set was in danger of rupture or collapse.  My mother said, "we could get you tires for your birthday", and I remember thinking that was the greatest gift.  I'm not sure what other gifts they got me for my birthday over the years, but I remember those tires and how practical a gift I thought it was.

I got phone calls and texts and emails for my birthday this year and a few presents.  My favorite present though was what my husband got me as a surprise.   The morning of my birthday, we had gotten the children ready to go to school and we were about to get them in the car.  He was reaching up on a high shelf for some reason and I had no idea what he was doing.

It turns out he was reaching for a little cake.  It was an eight inch cake from the grocery store with grocery store icing and no words or anything special.  He said, "I got you this cake and wanted to make sure you had it now in case you wanted some for breakfast."  What a great husband.  My favorite boring cake that I love mostly because I grew up eating those cakes and they just taste like birthday to me.

He took the children to school and when he got back we each had a piece of the cake.  When the children got home from school we had lunch and then all had a little piece of cake and sang happy birthday to me.  It was fun and the cake was just small enough for those two meals.

Thanks daddy, you know me so well.

The Big Boy Update:  My son knows the street we live on.  Today on the way home he was talking about the cities we were driving through (on our ten minute drive).  We asked him if he knew what city we lived in and he said no.  We told him he lived in Raleigh and could he say, Raleigh?  He said with completely clear diction, "I can't say Raleigh."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Where's the poppers?"  My daughter likes to push down the little beverage type indicators on drinks from restaurants.  After she did mine at lunch, she asked daddy where the "poppers" were and then said, "I want to pop yours daddy."

Fitness Update:  Our trainer usually has us do things in minute increments and then rotate.  Sometimes he has us do several things in a loop for a certain amount of time, usually five minutes.  Today he had us doing six exercises, twenty-four repetitions each for twenty-two minutes, no stopping.  And to think I thought I was in shape.