Saturday, January 24, 2015

My Birthday Post


Earlier, a friend reminded me my birthday was approaching. Stacia began asking for a birthday list.  I made plans for a laid back year....no hiking, geocaching, restaurants or such.
 
Friday, Arielle and I stopped by Sam's club for a few groceries and found these flowers. I didn't resist. They looked like the perfect birthday flowers and I knew Michael would "most likely" have brought me birthday flowers if he could get out and about.



Yes, he confirmed they were just the flowers he would have bought me. LOL  There was a bit of drama about my gift this year. I have an Amazon wish list. I've let this be known for years. I also have set up accounts for Michael and Arielle and made it known that I'd like to be surprised and not get emails telling me what they'd ordered. ::snort:: They really tried this year. For some reason the emails still came to me...and they caught the first one....but missed the one that came the next morning saying the item had shipped. I was not as gracious as I would like to have been....I should have deleted it and not let on....but we all laughed about it in the end.....

And the night of the 23rd, when the Amazon driver dropped off a package, Michael intercepted it. There was great fanfare over the fact that my present had arrived. Michael said, "Set it on the counter."

"WHAT? No, I don't care that I know, do NOT put it on the counter! Wrap it."

Nonetheless, they left it on the counter.......my birthday gift.... Ah - the 7 lbs of Wheat Montana rolled oats. I was happy it was not my gift. ::snort::

 Arielle got up early and I saw her off to the SAT.

A dear friend, Rachel, had a free day and we went out to lunch. We had planned to try a new spot but it turns out it is closed on weekends. Ah well - AJ's was around the corner and we enjoyed our Mommy Playdate. We've not gotten together since August. We topped off our lunch date by sitting in the driveway and talking another couple of hours. In our defense we were about to call it a day, when Arielle got home and asked Rachel to keep me occupied for awhile. LOL

Rachel put together the perfect gift. It can be eaten or killed and I won't have to worry about packing and storage....and she got some of my favorites...sugar free, vegan loot. I'm not sure Matt and Michael will let us out for another Mommy Playdate without a time limit - but it was great fun.

Arielle had this little plant waiting for me - and the kids had decorated the house while I was out! Score!

Arielle made rice bowls for dinner - we usually go out to eat at the birthday person's restaurant of choice - but I wouldn't do that without Michael.....and this was YUMMY. We used the Yumm sauce Krista brought down from Eugene. The omnivores added loads of chicken to theirs. 

Arielle stopped by Target after the SAT test. The boys told her the gift she put together was "cheesy," but I thought it was perfect. It was a bag full of gifts - each with a note attached. (See below) It was pinterest worthy.

And then the "real gift." See my surprised act. ::snort::  It's a zojirushi hot water pot....
 
Ah - I think my old one could have done a lot of things if I could have read the buttons. LOL
 
Yes, there are English instructions - but it was much more fun to have these two read the Kanji instructions.

It was at this point that they remembered the Birthday Pig Hat....
 
The moment the "cake" almost slid off.....
 
A word about the cake - Arielle had made a sugarfree deep dish cookie (recipe to follow).
 
It was yummy! I wasn't the only one who thought so!

It was a great birthday - and I'm looking forward to another year!
 
 
Kids Gift
  • Socks with stars  -  You're the star in our lives
  • Hello Kitty Band-Aids - You're there on the good and bad days
  • Extra gum - You're an extra special mom
  • Pumpkin Spice Burt's Bees - You spice up our lives
  • Nourishing hand lotion - You nourish us
  • Relaxing face mask - You're fun to relax and hang out with
  • $25 Starbucks card - We love you more than a good cup of hot chocolate

 

Things Arielle Learned at her SAT Test

Found online - not taken at the testing site!
Arielle prepared for this test. She has written almost daily essays which were critiqued by Michael.

She has worked through a giant book.

She has taken practice tests.

Friday we drove by the high school in Yuba City to be sure we knew where she needed to go.

This morning she got up bright and early and showed up to test.

And she was a bit surprised.

"Please write the following statement on the back of your test in cursive and sign it."

Dead silence in the group.

Then one raised his hand, "I don't know how to write in cursive."

"Make it up."

Really? These are college bound young adults.

She overheard several talking about how they didn't know they were taking the test and their moms woke them up and said, "Go take the SAT."

She also learned that sitting in a small windowless room with fluorescent lighting for hours on end would make her crazy. Thank you sweetie - we saw ahead and took care of this problem. LOL

And she learned there was nothing "unexpected" on the SAT....she finished in good time....and now we'll see.

She still isn't sure which route she wants to go for next year. Her goal - being a missionary - remains the same. The many paths to reach that goal are a bit tangled. She "may" attend New Hope Christian College. She "may" travel with us back to Japan (because we are sure we will go back to Japan one way or another) and take online classes for a year or two and then go to an on-site campus. She "may" move into an apartment in OR and attend community college for a year or two and get the basics out of the way before attending New Hope....lots of paths to consider. And she's considering well. We trust she recognizes the prompting of the Holy Spirit and will end up on the perfect path.

What we aren't hearing any longer is plans to attend beauty school - which I need to ask her about - because she won me over with her reasoning for that path.