40 - much more than I expected!

In the weeks preceding my dreaded 40th birthday I have been up and down. I really wanted to take a trip or do something big for my big "4" "0", but knowing Scott can't really take vacation, and having a pretty tight budget I didn't think that was possible. I didn't feel right about asking for a trip without him so I just figured we would stay here and do something. The closer my birthday got the more I kept hoping Scott would say something like, "let's do ____for your birthday." He never filled in that blank, and as far as I knew he had no plans. Finally, my friend Trittica suggested getting a few friends together to go to Star Trek (which I really wanted to see). That sounded great. Scott still didn't seem like he was on board to even get that going. The weekend of my birthday was the father/son camp out. Scott left on Friday night with Sean and I stayed home with the girls to put a garage sale together for Saturday. Six o'clock in the morning I got Megan up and we got started for the day. We got the garage sale going, baked some cinnamon rolls, sold, sold, sold, and then cleaned up. We got lunch, and then started cleaning the house. We cleaned all day, and as the day wore on I expected to see Scott home. At 4:30 pm I finally got a hold of him, and he was about 15 minutes away. By then I was hot tired and grumpy. Why wasn't he home helping me? Didn't he know it was my birthday tomorrow? How could he and Sean just go and play all day when we had so much work to do? Blah, blah, blah . . . I grouched at him, made him stop and get pizza and went to drop off the garage sale unsold items at the Idaho Youth Ranch. When I got home I was bossy, and whinny and not very nice. Scott was patient and kind. We got ready for the movie and stopped to pick up the Nielsons and then went to pick up our other friends the Andersons. As we went in I was thinking, "Come on . . .we're going to be late for the movie." Then, "Surprise!". I had no idea. Scott and Trittica had put a great party together for me. There was food and friends and laughing and presents and it was awesome. The time that he and my friends put in to get the party together was great, but I still didn't know the half of it. The next day, my actual birthday, they were really sweet and I had card and songs all day. We went to Nielsons for dinner and then opened presents. My first present was a book that Megan had picked out at a garage sale, the second was a cookie press (which is a story all it's own that I will add to the end of the blog), the third was a space heater (from Megan - another story!), and the fourth was a beautiful handmade locket from Scott. It was a beautiful birthday, and I felt so loved and cherished (and guilty for being grumpy). I have the best family and the best friends. They treat me so well, and I am so grateful for their love and support.

Now, the cookie press story:

Once upon a time my mother gave me a cookie press. It was a fine cookie press, that I put on the shelf in my pantry and didn't use. A year or two later I found a cookie press at a garage sale that I thought would be a great tool to have. I purchased it, brought it home, and opened my pantry to put beside the exact same cookie press that I already had. Fast forward to my garage sale. Finally, an opportunity to get rid on one of the cookie presses (neither of which I have used yet). My neighbor Marit buys the cookie press from me. I tell her how grateful I am because I already have the exact same one. Later that night at the party she gives it back to me for my birthday. I laugh and give it back to her because she indicates that she really might want it. Once again I am relieved to be down to one cookie press that I will probably never use. My birthday . . . I again receive the cookie press as a gift. AHHHHHh! I can't wait for the next white elephant gift exchange!