I had a birthday! And then I worked for a couple of days… and then we got a new computer… and then it had some problems with Office 2010… and then it was the weekend… and Monday I got it all worked out. But I’m having a little conumdrum with PhotoShop Elements 9, my photo editing choice, because there’s talk of it acting up with Windows 7. So today I installed the trial version and I figure if it works fine for 30 days, it will probably work fine forever and I’ll go ahead and buy it. ANYWAY…
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| Grandma, Haley, and me |
The Saturday before my birthday we went to Jim’s parents’ house for a family birthday dinner. My mother-in-law surprised me with an afternoon at the spa! I got an hour-long facial that put me to sleep, a twenty-minute aromatherapy soak in a jacuzzi tub, and an hour-long massage. It was fabulous, obviously. Then we went back to the house for a yummy steak-and-shrimp dinner with lemon cheesecake for dessert.
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| Her first time in shoes – Mary Jane Robeez |
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| Making JT sit for a picture with the birthday girl |
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| Aw, Mom! |
On Sunday, Jim gave me my present… after we got home from church, I left. By myself. And I got a spa pedicure and manicure while I looked at cheesy magazines and didn’t think about anyone’s nap time. Then I went to the mall. By myself. To shop for me. I walked into Gap and Old Navy and bought a bunch of new tops and a few new pants without shopping for children’s clothes or feeling guilty about buying new clothes. Then I drove home and we had pizza and salad (that I didn’t have to make) and brownies for dessert (that I didn’t have to make) while we watched Finding Nemo. It was wonderful! The only downside was when JT decided he didn’t like the movie because of the sharks (“I’m all done with this movie.”), and when he cried at the end because Nemo left his dad (“But he’s supposed to stay with his dad!”).
Monday… I had to work but it was for my consulting job and so that was fun. My parents both came to babysit for the day and JT practiced his airplane moves with Grandpa Cole.
On my actual birthday, I got both kids up and out of the house quickly so we could spend the morning at a Children’s Museum with Grandpa and Grandma Cole. You can see that JT was not thrilled to be up before 8:30. Haley, on the other hand, was fed and cheery by the time I coaxed JT into clothes.
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| Good morning, Sunshine. |
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| Good morning, Sunshine! |
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| Haley hangs with Grandpa. |
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| JT thought driving this car was so fun. It was the first thing he wanted to do! |
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| First attempt at watercolors |
Tuesday night, Jim’s parents came up to babysit while we went out to dinner with friends. Jim had dropped a beautiful flower centerpiece and card off at the restaurant ahead of time so it was sitting on the table when we arrived. He told me to order all my favorites so, five whole Chinese entrees and a side of egg rolls later, we were stuffed and took home a nice lefttover box that I ate on Thursday for dinner. We had a blast hanging out with friends. It’s good being 31!
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| Love it! |
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| The birthday group – thanks everyone! |
The Keene Family 