Unfortunately, Birthday Week could not last forever, and has now come to a close. What a great week, though! Why don't I tell you about it?? (What a novel idea!)

On Tuesday night, April 27, Joe and I snuggled in bed together. We weren't quite intending to fall asleep. Just to lie down for a bit. As I laid in his arms, feelings of happiness, contentment, and love completely filled me up. Joe rolled over, so I sat up. I could tell he was falling asleep, while I was still kind of awake. "What time is it?" Joe murmured.

"12:17," I said, glancing at the clock.

"Happy Birthday!" he said sleepily.

"Aww! THANKS!" I said, suddenly realizing that it had, in fact, turned into my birthday as we were snuggled up together. What a great way to start out the day!

I was incredibly excited and hyper about the fact that it was my birthday. I considered getting up and writing a journal entry or finding someone online to chat with.

Then Joe started talking to me. He was talking in his sleep. He does this often. He paused after saying a few nonsensical things, then said, "Oh my god!" and reached out, laying his hand urgently on my arm.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

Joe looked at me, and the look of alarm left his face. "You're CUTE!" he said, looking into my eyes. Then he closed his eyes and laid his head back on his pillow. Oh my god, you guys. My husband tells me I'm cute even when he's sleeping. He is the best!

I couldn't resist crawling under the covers and lying down next to him until I was tired enough to fall asleep, too. It didn't take long. I guess I was sleepier than I thought!

* * *

The next morning (my birthday!!!), I decided to sleep in. Before Joe left for work, I asked, "Hey could we go shopping for a new outfit for me at the mall tonight?"

"Sure!" Joe said.

WOW! Joe doesn't even like shopping, but he'll take me for my birthday?! He's the COOLEST!! These were the thoughts running through my head.

* * *

That afternoon, Bobbi and Loki picked me up for our weekly Wednesday hike. And this is what I saw when I opened the door:

I could not believe both of them were wearing party hats!!! I busted up laughing, while Bobbi sang "Happy Birthday" to me. On the seat was a gift bag. When I opened it, I saw a book called Puppy Dogs, and inside it said, "To: Aunt Meg, From: Loki." Oh my god. I have the coolest friends ever!

We stopped at the usual sandwich place to order our picnic lunch, and Bobbi bought mine for me! She's awesome! Then we went on a really nice hike. It was incredibly hot, so we came up with a plan to start walking later in the day, especially since it's staying light out so late now. Must stop walking during the hottest part of the day!!! Especially since all three of us are prone to heat exhaustion. Seriously, what are we thinking walking midday? We must be nuts. But! We figured it out, and I think our new plan will keep us cooler. I'm so glad we'll still be able to keep hiking, even as we head into summer!

So, as we were walking on the trail, Bobbi and Loki were a little ways ahead of me. Suddenly, I saw something in the grass, and I stopped dead in my tracks, gasping loudly.

"What?" Bobbi said.

"A snake," I said quietly and cautiously, as if by announcing its presence, it might somehow feel the need to kill me.

"WHERE?"

I pointed it out. Then I craned my neck so that I could see its tail and I realized it was just a gopher snake, not a rattlesnake. I had thought it was a gopher snake, because those are the ones I work with the most at the museum, and I thought I recognized it. I also know it's their defense mechanism to look A LOT like rattlers, so I wasn't sure until I saw the rattle-less tail. Anyway, even though I was relieved, I was still scared of its potential strike range, so I walked very carefully and slowly around it so as not to startle it. I got past it just fine, but... Holy crap, was that scary!

The rest of our hike was fantastic, and it was definitely a perfectly lovely way to spend my birthday!

* * *

That night, Joe took me out to the mall. To go shopping! Remember? I hit a few stores where NOTHING worked out clothes-wise, so I sucked it up and went to the store I used to work in. Right away, I saw one of my managers, the one girl I used to really love working with! She paused, then said, "HI!!! Oh my god, I haven't seen you in forever. I was like, 'Where did I used to work with that girl?'" Heh! We talked for a bit, and then I started grabbing some cool looking clothes. Joe joined me in the store shortly afterwards, and sat on the bench flipping through his newly purchased magazine, as I began trying stuff on. I used to work with the other girl in the store a lot, too, and she was super nice and glad to see me as well. It was nothing like the last time I was there. I had so much fun trying on all these different clothes, and finally had two outfits I loved. I went to the cash register to purchase them and discovered I'd forgotten my check card at HOME! I asked Joe if he could help me out. He gave me cash, which I used, but it only covered one outfit. I put the second outfit on hold, said bye to everyone, exchanged the usual, "Now don't be a stranger! Come visit us again soon!" "Oh I will, take care!" conversations.

Then, we were outside, walking towards the car. I was terribly happy!

Then, my smile faded as I realized that Joe was terribly UN-happy. What on earth? He said calmy but disappointedly that he couldn't believe it had taken so long, that he hadn't expected to be in there for all that time. All what time? Well, it had taken me two hours to do all that shopping, apparently!! We left about five minutes before the mall closed, unbeknownst to me. I had NO idea I'd shopped so long until we were in the car and I saw the clock. Also? Joe had been planning to completely surprise me by taking me out to dinner. Now, all the restaurants were closed, AND I'd used up all his cash. Crap. We got burgers from McDonald's, and the grumpiness faded from both of us, slowly but surely. I still felt incredibly guilty for unknowingly ruining Joe's cool birthday plans for me.

* * *

But hey, that's why we have Birthday Week, and not just one BirthDAY, right? The next night, Joe took me back to the mall so I could buy my second outfit. With my own check card this time! I saw more cool former co-workers, had friendly chats with everyone, then left. This time, we were only in the store ten minutes. I learned my lesson. Do not take the husband shopping.

Afterwards, we tried to figure out where to eat dinner. THEN, the unthinkable happened! Joe actually suggested a restaurant we'd never been to before! He never does that. ALSO, it was a sit-down restaurant. We did not get our food to-go. It was like we were in some sort of alternate universe! Anyway, it turns out that the Indian restaurant down the street from our apartment is incredibly delicious. Mmm, vegetable samosas. Mango lassi. Chicken Biryani. Good stuff, people. We had a great time eating there! We left with our bellies full and a huge container of the food we couldn't finish. It was awesome! Joe did surprise me with dinner after all! And what a nice surprise it was!

* * *

Saturday night, May first, was another birthday celebration! I made reservations at another never-tried-before restaurant. Joining Joe and I: my brother, Wyatt, his wife, Alyssa, as well as Misti and Steve. YAY!

The restaurant was a Cuban cuisine place called Havana, and it was wonderful! Wyatt, Alyssa, and I all had Mojitos, which were these awesome rum/fruit drinks. Mine was banana flavored. Wyatt and Alyssa had lime and lemon flavored, respectively. We all shared the fried plantain appetizer, which was incredible. And then we had amazing entrees. Mine was chicken with mango salsa, black beans, and rice. I also had another banana Mojito! Somewhere in the middle of dinner, I realized how very tipsy I was! Always fun on a birthday, am I right?

Everyone seemed to get along great, which was a gigantic relief. It was crazy, because Wyatt and Alyssa had never met Misti and Steve, and Misti and Steve had never met Joe. So, hardly anyone knew each other! Well, they all knew me, so that was a start! Anyway, there was much conversation about upcoming relocation plans and possibilities for all six of us, books, Wyatt's thesis, hamsters, jobs, retail, and poop. We covered all the bases, I'm telling you! Of course, I would be the one who crossed the line and freaked everyone out with my "one time, my hamster ate one of her babies" story. Y'all, what is wrong with me? Talking about that stuff? At dinner?? I mentioned it casually, and everyone seemed really horrified. Then I felt guilty, wondering if I'd just ruined my own party.

People recovered pretty well, though, and soon we were onto other subjects! We talked about brain freezes over dessert! Oh, dessert was funny. First, my dessert took a long time to arrive. Apparently, the waiter had started to bring it out, noticed birthday wrapping paper on the bench, and then took it away, all without my noticing! When he came back and gave me my sorbet, there was a candle in it. We talked about how nice that was, and then I couldn't help myself. "Okay. Sing to me!" I said. Holy crap, I'm so demanding!! But, come on. You CAN'T blow out the birthday candle without the birthday SONG, for crying out loud. So, my lovely family and friends obliged, because they are awesome and don't hold my tyrannical behavior against me. Then we all shared in my sorbet, because it was giant and super sweet. And yummy. Let's not forget yummy! We took a few pictures outside, and then no one felt like barhopping with me. So sad. But that's okay. Joe and I went back to the car, took a few more pictures, then took a really nice drive around our little city, before heading home. It was the perfect way to end the evening.

* * *

The next day, Joe suggested yet another new place we'd never been. The Cache Creek Casino! We knew it was just over an hour away, so we said, "Hell, why not??" I got all dressed up again. It was a very girly, feminine weekend for me. Sometimes, it's really nice to feel like a total girl! Skirts, dress shoes, nice shirts. What's come over me? Moreso, what came over Joe, with all the suggesting new places to go?? Three new places in a week? Seriously, did someone open some kind of wormhole in the space/time continuum or something? I'm so NOT complaining, it's just... What the hell?

Anyway, we ate lunch, played a few slot machines, and desperately missed Vegas. I mean, this place was cool, but Vegas is... VEGAS. I mean, come on. Nothing compares. Still, we had fun. We won some, then lost it all. Unfortunately, the tables were all too crowded to play cards, so after wandering around and taking it all in for a while, we headed home. It was definitely a fun outing, and I'm glad we went!

* * *

So that's it! That was Birthday Week, and what a fun week it was. Food, fun, friends, and alcohol!!! What more could a girl ask for? Happy Birthday to me, indeed! And what the hell, Happy Birthday to you, too!