It turned out pretty darn ok

So, despite my melancholy pissing and moaning, my birthday turned out pretty fantastic. Although I had my doubts most of the day. It didn't start out so well.

There were daycare kids and my own who just refused to listen to me. I think they all sat in timeout for most of the day. The black dress I wanted to wear to dinner didn't quite fit right on my burgeoning belly. It's an empire waist but has a wide patent leather belt that just sat funny on the top of my little passenger. So I settled for my old stand by, maternity black pants and white top. I had my hair cut the day before and loved it but when I tried to repeat the style that I left the salon with, I ended up in a fight with my hair dryer. I don't suppose I have to tell you who won. The lipstick I bought was just not quite the right shade of red. By the time that Jaimie called to say he had to push back the reservations, I was ready to say "let's just order pizza". But boy am I glad that I didn't.

Jaimie took me to a restaurant that he has been raving about for months, Isaac's (I would put a link here but they don't have a website). It was a beautiful, quiet, dim restaurant. At first I was afraid that the little traveler wouldn't let me eat very much from the menu, but when I caught a glimpse of the tenderloin with bernaise sauce, my passenger relented on his/her assault on my stomach. Seriously, best food in a looooooooooooong time. The second that the fork passed my lips my mouth burst with happy taste buds. Oh.My.God. It was that good. The only thing missing was a deep, rich, dry red wine. Oddly enough, this passenger craves red wine (much like his/her sister did). However, I do have some sense and kept my indulgences to some caffeinated coffee. When we finally poured ourselves out of our seats, we were full without being too full and lazily drove home to a little girl who did NOT want to sleep until we were home. Lucky for her (and the babysitter) we are early dinners and arrived home just after 9pm. My husband stole away with Amelia for a few minutes to get my gift ready. Oh ya, my gift. A "queen for the day" at the Brokstreet Spa. How bloody fantastic is that? How amazing is my husband? Seriously. Seriously.

As if that weren't enough, we spent the next day feeding ducks and shopping for Amelia's ballet school uniform. We were then to go to my friend's house for what I thought was a quiet evening to discover that she had been in cahoots with Jaimie to get some of our dearest friends over to celebrate with us. I was completely spoiled and loved every minute of it. I woke up this morning at 8:30am!!! I haven't slept in that late since way before Amelia was born. I had a cup of the most amazing tea (a rockin' birthday present) and had a really easy Sunday morning. Well, after I broke the bodum but that's another story.

It was the first birthday in a long time that I didn't feel completely sad that it was only about me. Sometimes the things in life that I am missing can eclipse the many, many things that I am grateful for; but I am glad that I had a mom who taught me to let the happy cast a shadow over the sad.