My 32nd Birthday!

Woohoo! I turned 32!

It's true. And I'm not upset about it at all. When am I supposed to be annoyed with birthdays? I don't know if I'm going to get that way. I love my birthday.

Mark spoiled me--AGAIN. Mark is so amazing. I married the best, best, best man for me.

The day started out with breakfast. Mark made me pancakes. Sitting on the table were three bags of presents!!!!


In the bags I found a new cookie jar, stickers that say “The best things in life aren’t things”, a new wallet, and three bottles of awesome lotion. Mark pays way better attention than I realize a lot of the time. He’s so good.

I celebrated my birthday all week. On Tuesday, I went to lunch with Mark. We went to Red Robin. On Thursday (my birthday), I went to lunch with my friends, DeeDee and Jill. We went to Noodles and Company. DeeDee and I went to Cold Stone after Noodles. Thursday night Mark had training (that I forgot about), so I went to dinner with my friend, Jamie. We went to Mimi’s Café. On Friday I went to lunch with my friend, Teddi. We went to Thaifoon. Friday night I had a party. And Saturday, Mark and I went to lunch again—because Mark was at training again and only had a half hour break. We went to Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill.

All of these meals were free (for me). I had birthday coupons for all of them except Thaifoon—and Teddi paid for that one. I haven’t used all of my birthday coupons yet. In fact—I better use my free ice cream coupon at Baskin Robbins tomorrow!!!

The birthday party was GREAT! I wanted a white elephant party, so that’s what I had. I also wanted it to be fun and funny! So, I made some additional rules. They worked GREAT! Everyone participated and it was a blast.

The new rules?

* The first person picks a present as usual.
* The following participants must either
* Draw a challenge from a bowl in order to get permission to open a new gift OR
* Steal a present that has already been unopened.
* The present is “safe” or “frozen” on the third trade (fourth person).

Here are some of the challenges that I had in the bowl:

* For 45 seconds, tell us about your first day working at the zoo—in the ELEPHANT HOUSE.
* For 45 seconds, tell us about the importance of fiber in your diet.
* For 45 seconds, tell us—with enthusiasm—about the most exciting thing that happened to you yesterday.
* For 45 seconds, tell us what you would change if you RULED THE WORLD.
* For 45 seconds, speak to a group of vegetarians on the virtues of red meat.
* For 45 seconds, sing the theme song to Mr. Ed.
* Lucky you! You get to wear ITEM #1 for the rest of the game!
* Show us your favorite “stupid human trick.” Or make a funny face for 20 seconds.
* For 45 seconds, SING your introduction (name, favorite color, occupation, pets, etc.) like a RAP STAR!

I had a lot more that were not used. But it was great! The shy people picked already opened presents—leading to more trading. And the brave people gave us all a show.

Thanks Mark for a wonderful birthday! I love you!

P.S. This is how short my hair is these days. I chopped it on New Year’s Eve.


P.P.S. Here are pictures from the party.