Happy Birthday to Me!

So, I've said before that Jeff is not the best gift giver for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Days or other special occasion days. But I think he's actually coming around lately. He gave me the best Valentine's Day this year, and a pretty great birthday today. If he hadn't been feeling under the weather on Mother's Day, he probably would have made that day a little more special, too. He called me from work this morning just to wish me a happy birthday. Then again in the afternoon to tell me not to worry about making a cake or other celebratory baked goods. He had it all covered. He took Alex, Lucas and Sarah to the store last night (yes, all three) and they each picked a little something they wanted to give Mama. Sarah picked a Little Mermaid PEZ dispenser. Lucas picked a small box of Whoppers, and Alex so lovingly decided on gummy worms. Not really sure what the candy theme was all about. But it certainly was cute. Jeff got be the best present of all of them, though. He bought me the George Foreman G5. I know probably no one appreciates this as much as I do unless you know about it. It's like having 5 appliances in one. If you frequently use each of the five, it is a very practical and useful thing to have. It makes waffles, bakes cookies or other low profile goods, fries skillet dishes, grills steaks or other meats more closely to an actual barbecue, and does the old-fashioned George Foreman duties just as well as it always has. I use my George Foreman grill a lot, as well as the waffle maker, and the countertop skillet. I also like to bake things in the toaster oven to save electricity and keep from heating the house unnecessarily. So the G5 is an obvious practicality for my kitchen. It was fully unexpected, and very appreciated. Thanks Jeffrey-Love!

I also bought a music stand on craigslist a few weeks ago to go in our new home's formal living/music room. It was an early birthday present.

After my dad visited and left some birthday money, I got myself an electric 3 barrel waver for my hair. I used it on Sunday for church, and it was pretty fun. I took these pictures after 3 hours of church and the waves relaxed a bit, but you get the picture. Thanks dad! Love you!


*I wrote more about how I feel on my birthday on my Impressions blog. Click the link to the right of the page to read.*