I'm sorta glad I went to school on my birthday. I was an hour late, but that's coz I talked to my Mom before I left home. I didn't think I'd feel like celebrating, but when I got inside the classroom, they all shouted "surprise!," leapt to their feet and sang for me. That was awesome. I got orchids from Mrs. T and massagers from Carmen (they need batteries). And cards, lots of them. It made my heart full. I told them that this meant more to me than when 500 of my classmates sang at yoga teacher training, and the kids said thank you. Of course at recess they were rough and were "treating me like a suspect," whatever that means, but that's how they are--impulsive and ebullient. I love them.
It should have been that I was going to stay home and shop with my Mom, but alas, that was not to be: her visa expired, so she petitioned hard to get a new one for this week. It is hopefully on its way to her now as I write, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed even as her gifts are all ready for her. I won't deny that not having her here for the 1st time was hard; it was: we practically have a tradition that she meets me wherever part of the world I am on my birthday, and as much as I grumble about it, it is grounding and gratifying. Alas, not this year, so I really didn't feel in the "birthday spirit." But at least I had my students this time. Seriously, you can't have a bad day with 6-8 year-olds depending on you and loving you unconditionally. Loads of people greeting me over the phone and Internet was nice, too. My Angkong (Chinese granddad) even sang to me over the phone; can you say AWESOME? And of course, my sweet fiance, J, who bought me cutesy sandals the weekend before, then had a few surprise gifts up his sleeve, then even though it was the middle of the week, took me out to a nice Indian restaurant for my birthday (though in hindsight, going in the middle of the week was more peaceful than going on a weekend--easier to get a table, too). All in all, a good birthday.
It kinda extended to the weekend, too-- I made fruit salad and smoothies on Saturday, and J made french toast out of stale baguette, then cooked some turkey bacon, too. I liked the turkey bacon; him, not so much. We took our time, watched a funny movie at home, then did some chores, and went out for a nice relaxed dinner after. Sunday, we had oatmeal (simpler than french toast!), did more chores like housekeeping and shoe sizing for gifts (J's birthday is next month), tried out a new snowcone place, then hung out with a friend at her mom's pool. And in the midst of all this, J and I found time to snuggle and cuddle and hug and kiss and laugh again, which was nice. Sometimes life gets in the way. We realize it shouldn't. It was a good weekend.
Now, my Mom's supposed to come in on Wednesday, and all our plans for last week are moved to this week. There's no turning back now; that's the plan, at least. Take 2; here's hoping it really works. If it does, I see shopping and nice restaurants in my future. Woohoo! Fingers crossed.
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