Naps and Other Important Aspects of Life

So today is (was) my birthday. 🙂  I took the day off work, and part of my birthday present to myself (besides expensive new tires, boo!) was supposed to be time to do all the things I enjoy, like processing pictures, catching up on all my blogs. and writing a post of my own.  Well…sometimes, things don’t go quite the way you planned, even on your birthday. 😛  The new tires turned out to be a real miserable experience, where I ended up waiting for two hours before they discovered they’d ordered the wrong size tires!  I was fuming, and ended up stomping out and calling my husband to tell him he’d have to take care of it…because IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY! 😉  He did indeed take care of it, and got me a discount in the process. 😀

In the meantime, I did get a few fun things done, and it gives me a chance to showcase a few pictures!

First thing in the morning, my mom and sister took me to breakfast.  Besides a free breakfast, I got a rose from my mom’s garden and the coolest new shirt and shoelace-tag from my sister to showcase my first birthday as a half-marathon finisher (x 2!)

 

 

 

After breakfast, I treated myself to a car detail and then, on a whim, I stopped at”Cookies by Design” to see if they had any extra of those frosted cookies that I just adore.  When I arrived, I told the lady it was my birthday and she was enthusiastic about my “birthday cookie” idea.  They had 3 extra round ones, but they had blue, yellow and pink frosting respectively, and I really didn’t want one with colored frosting.  The lady was so sweet; when I mentioned I would rather not have one with colored frosting, she said, “Would you like me to frost you a fresh one with white frosting?”  I immediately replied, “That would be awesome!” “Sprinkles or no sprinkles?” she asked.  “Sprinkles, of course!”  I was so excited to get a freshly-frosted cookie–I only ate half, because I had other dessert plans for the day, but that half a cookie was delicious!

 

 

The kids enjoyed the other half. 🙂  On a side note, lately I’ve been trying to find ways to improve my food photography, and I’ve noticed a lot (a lot!) of the food blogs I follow tend to use “weathered wood” as the backdrop for their photos, which looks pretty cool.  That’s great and all, but I don’t happen to have a plank of old wood sitting around.  Or…do I?  😉  I realized today when I was walking up my steps that my whole deck (which desperately needs to be ripped out and completely redone) is full of weathered wood.  I didn’t have a freshly-made recipe handy to try it out, but I thought the cookie would work–I think it turned out pretty nice! 🙂  I took a picture of my mom’s rose on the porch, too, just for fun, and sent it to her.

 

 

 

After the cookie, I took a few pictures of my neighbor’s new tree, which is sporting some beautiful fall colors.

 

 

 

 

Next, I did my ab workout (I’ve been doing it three times a week religiously, and I ran out of time yesterday).  Then…I took a nap! 🙂  I never take naps, because I don’t nap well during the day, but I was able to get in about 20 minutes before I was woken up by my neighbor’s plane. (Yep, I have a neighbor who owns a small plane, ha ha!)  It was nice to have a little rest in the middle of the day.

After that, the kids came home from school, and it was such a nice day (can’t remember the last time I wore shorts on my birthday!), I told them they had to go outside.  They decided to use their outdoor time to build me a “birthday tree fort.”

 

 

I helped them gather the sticks, but they put it together themselves.  We had great fun, and I enjoyed sipping my wine in a tree fort. 😉   Eventually, my husband came home with my car (and new tires), and then I got to work on some hockey pictures.  I’m not done yet, but I’m having fun.  Here’s a few good ones.

 

 

Jamie coming out of the penalty box.  Two games, two penalties so far this season for my defenseman. 😉

 

 

DS#2 fighting with the opposing winger at the face off.

 

 

A great glove save by our goalie.  I love it when I can get those rare “telling” shots. 🙂

My day ended with a lovely celebration with my immediate family, just the boys, my husband and me, in which we ate pasta (to fuel tomorrow’s 10 mile run) and brownies ala mode (to fuel my love of chocolate).  To top off my day, my husband gave me a lovely birthday gift.

 

 

I’d been using his grandmother’s food processor for the last 10 years, but it broke earlier this year. 🙁  I use it a lot, especially now that I cook more, and my dear husband heard my cries of frustration and bought me a new one. 🙂

Now, it’s time to finish watching Iron Man 3…I do love a good action movie.  😀

Thank you for reading!!