Happy Birthday to me!!

Well, I need to take a break from reliving the lowest point of my life.

I hit the speed limit!! My birthday was Saturday, 11/22 - hard to forget as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on my 10th birthday, and every time they make that "milestone" in the news, it sucks me back to that day.

My mom baked cupcakes to bring to school to share with my classmates after lunch, which was pretty much a tradition back in the day. Now, you can't do that, because certain kids have allergies to some foods so it's now unacceptable.

Shortly after lunch recess, our principal came to the door as asked our teacher, Mrs. Brickley, to step out into the hall. She returned in tears, telling us our President was shot in Dallas, TX, but his condition was unkown. We were all crying, and the cupcakes forgotten about.

There was a television right outside the principal's office, and grades 5-8 were called out to watch the news as it was reported. It was announced before school ended that our President was dead.

There was no early dismissal; we sat and cried till it was time to board the bus home. I came home to my mother, glued to the television and crying.... I call this "the birthday that never was". My godmother, Aunt Millie, had a gift for me, and I walked down the two houses to her house to retrieve my Barbie case, and my 45 rpm record of Ricky Nelson's "Fools Rush In".

There was no birthday celebration in the house that day, and not after, as we witnessed the sadness of America on TV the entire weekend.

Well, this weekend was different, as were previous ones since Kennedy's assassination.

My BFF, Sam, emailed me early in the day only, asking if she could borrow one of our cat carriers, as she only had one, but had to bring 2 to the vet on Saturday for their shots and annual check up. I told her to give a call when she got home, as we're usually home by 6.

We also had a carpenter friend coming over to assess our switch from vented to non vented gas fireplace. They arrive first, and Tim was busy with them when Sam showed up.

She showed up with a bouquet of flowers, 2 balloons saying "5" (there was a language problem betwen her and the guy at the dollar store - they didn't have a 55, nor did they have a 50, so she told him to just give her two 5's. She also gave me a really cute canvas pocketbook with a tiger kitty, much like Reba on it!

Sam asked me what we were doing for my birthday, and I mentioned that we were going to Asian Bistro for Hibachi. She said she had a coupon for 50% off a 2nd entree, but only Sunday through Thursday. So, she said she'd leave the coupon in the mailbox for us, which we picked up on Saturday morning. David called on Saturday to wish me a happy birthday and arranged to stop by Saturday afternoon. The cats all came out and were so happy to see their "brother". He gave me a card and a gift card to Target - my most favorite store!!

We had a quiet dinner at home and celebrated with some champagne and a visit to the hot tub.

I slept in yesterday and Tim took care of the cats.... here are some pics of our dinner being prepared. No pics of the VERY comfortable computer chair that Tim bought me.

An onion Mt. Fuji with a squirting boy doll putting out the flames

Here, after he put out the flames, he made clanging noises with his spatula, saying choo-choo Mt. Fuji train...

I love you, made with some veggies, fried rice, and noodles:

Dinner was preceded with Miso soup and a salad with ginger dressing (YUM!) I had the filet mignon with lobster tail, Tim had just filet mignon. You get 2 shrimp with your meal (unless you order shrimp hibachi) so I gained two shrimp (Tim gave me his). Dinner cooking away:

Sorry, but at this point I was so hungry, I forgot to take a pic of the finished product, but it was WAY too much food, and so delicious, we had left overs to take to work for our lunch today.

All in all, it was a great weekend; I only teared up twice, when I read Tim's "serious" card, and when I got home today to a Hallmark e-card from my now ex daughter in law.

From this point on, I'm stickin' to 50-something!! Why is it that when we're young, the years seem to drag, but as you get older, they fly by???

I'm working on going backwards....