Birthday Treats

I turned 52 yesterday. I got to sleep in on a Sunday morning, because I went to the children's musical at church Saturday night. I did some leisurely shopping.

 Craig cooked a fantastic dinner - Lasagna Florentine, Lobster Tail with garlic butter, french bread, salad. Nick frosted an angel food cake, my favorite.

The boys helped me decorate the tree, and we laughed at their handmade ornaments from their childhood and remembered Grandma Jean and Grandma McAnulty who gave them ornaments when they were little. Will got me a beautiful necklace and earrings in my birthstone (blue topaz).

This one was slightly painful. I'm all for hugs, but I asked for another one, just standing there.

It still surprises me sometimes that my "baby" ended up being the tallest.

Eventually all the family festivities were over and it was just Will and I relaxing in front of the TV, watching Animal Planet. Suddenly Will said, "Hey, that's Nick!" And sure enough, a commercial for Coastal Farm was on. There was Nick, sitting on a saddle (not a horse, just a saddle!), wearing a plaid flannel shirt and smiling like he was having a great time, surrounded by friends who put a Santa hat on his curly head. It only lasted about 10 seconds. Lucky for us, DVR allows you to record something you already watched. So we rewound it a few times to check it out. It was an outstanding birthday treat for me! Possibly more fun for us than for Nick!

A few weeks ago he was asked to go to Eugene for a day of filming commercials with some other employees. (He works in the corporate office doing IT stuff.) I'm told they needed a big guy to wear some Carhartt clothing. He brought us a dvd with all the commercials today. They are short, moving right along, and he's in the beginning of most of them. They are only on this week, on KATU, KPTV, Comcast Cable, KEZI, KVAL, CNN, ESPN, TNT, GHTV, Animal Planet, Weather Channel, and CMT.  Ads should play on Good Day Oregon, KEZI and KVAL evening news, and Monday Night Football.

So if you're watching TV and you hear the Coastal Farm jingle and you see a smiling face that looks just like Nick, believe it. It really is him!

(Sorry Nick. But you really shouldn't be embarrassed. You look good! I almost want to go buy some Carhartt. And I'm really glad you didn't dance around shaking your booty like the girls did! In fact, I'm glad you didn't have to dance around at all!)

I don't mind birthdays and getting older at all. People are more likely to do what I want, just for the day!  And every year I get to live is a blessing and a bonus. And the amount of wisdom I am attaining is just astounding. Hopefully I will start to accrue some modesty one of these years as well!