Happy Birthday to ME, and ONLY to me!

It has historically rained on most of my birthdays I can remember, and when it hasn't, I've had to work. But this year, I've been on maternity leave AND the sun came out! The day had "potential" coming out of its ears!

I lived up my morning with some much-needed sleep, some incredible wake-up kissing and part of a Toblerone for breakfast, shortly followed by bacon and mango nectar for lunch. Ted fried up the bacon himself, but only after I stuck out my lower lip and requested it for my birthday. He redeemed himself with its crispy goodness and fabulous gifts later on that night.

After my taste buds calmed down a bit, I thought about what I wanted to do for the day. Well, by golly, I wanted to walk around and get this baby out! So I called my friend Megan to accompany me to Descanso Gardens (she's off-track teaching, kidless, and was lying around in a robe reading about genetic anomalies when I called). I brought my camera and we had a ball. A few years ago, when we lived together, we decided to take a 10-day trip to Hawaii for our birthdays (they're 6 days apart). We had a ball then, too, and we talked about how glad we were that we did that before husbands and pregnancies flew into the mix. She's 10 weeks, and I'm 40+. Here's a shot that brought up the lush memories of that awesome trip:



And here are a few more shots out in the beautiful sunshine:





And a very cool goose. It was not shy, and since I was on a roll with having what I wanted to eat on my birthday, I fantasized about a nice orange glaze all over this rotisseried sucker. Alas, "don't feed (on) the animals".



Now, Ted has tried to put his foot down about my lack of a filter. To that, I say he knew what he was getting into when he knelt in front of me with that ring. So if there's a finger to point anywhere, SWEETIE...

That said, Megan and I couldn't pass up this photo op:



In case the message isn't large enough,



They claim it's the name of a particular owl. But come on - who was inebriated in the taxonomy office that day?

We enjoyed a bit more sunshine on one of the many benches that surround the place and then my mind wandered to that little white and black shop perfectly situated on the corner of the two streets that lead to the Gardens. I asked Megan if her pregnancy was letting her tolerate sugar. She said she could do it (lucky little tramp), so we headed out to indulge ourselves.




Megan told me she's never been into a See's candy shop to just buy a few pieces for herself. WHAT?? It's my godsend! For the past several weeks, I've visited one of these shops right after my OB appointment since it's just down the street and I feel I have to reward myself after peeing all over my hand trying to get that blasted stream inside the cup. Anyhoo, I think I found a convert. What chocolate joys! Thank you, Mary See, for blessing my life over and over again. God has a place reserved at His right hand for you, I'm sure.

Ted had asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday as far as dinner, and I have had serious cravings for Cheesecake Factory's Avocado Eggrolls with that amazing tamarind cashew sauce. It's an appetizer, so I just ordered that so we'd have room for four desserts. The banana cream cheesecake was the decorated one because I felt I should get some nutrition during my indulgent day. The others weren't as good for me.





Thank you to all the friends and family who showed up last minute! With this baby past due, I feel a bit like a ticking time bomb, so Ted's email to the group included a caveat about reserving the right to cancel at the last minute due to bathroom floor flooding and spousal ring-of-fire pain, but this little girl showed her first instance of blind obedience and didn't bother mommy's special day. Now I won't have any problem loving her!

Opa!!

Ted and I tapped into our inner Mediterraneans and hit the St. Anthony's Greek Fest a while back. Well, we saw an advertisement for it a couple months ago and when it approached, I asked, "So are we still going to the Greek Fest?" His reply: "Well, I'm going. I don't know what YOU'RE doing." If there's anything Ted loves, it's going like a lamb-eater to the slaughter.



We invited the illustrious Mike and Lilian to join us since it's been so long and we haven't been hitting the karaoke stage like we should. They were totally game, so we met up and we hustled our hummuses over there.



Who should we see in the food line but Jean, Tim, and their wee one. What an added treat! Well, it was two treats since we caught them snarfing down these little numbers. Behold, the Greek Donut. Christy, don't drool on your computer.



To know that Tim & Jean were eating dessert before dinner (and were planning to finish off a few pastries afterwards, too), cemented their good reputation in my mind, so the six adults, one baby, one fetus, and one bared hooter (won't say whose) sat down to a VERY yummy dinner of kebabs, shrimp, moussaka, rice and authentic salad. We were stuffed so of course, it was time to find some baklava. Oh yeah, and watch all those sweaty, hairy Athenians dance a little jig.



The pastry table was our first visit because we all figured we'd need to come back after we made our rounds to the other booths. Now, I love baklava as much as the next phyllophile, but frankly, I make a mean batch myself. Instead, I made a beeline to the apricot filled shortbread and the custard-phyllo creation, and we were not disappointed with our choices. But our trip around the converted parking lot was not without its own visual delights. First, the triplets being pushed around by grandpa.



Don't you just want to eat them up?? If they'd been wrapped in phyllo and dipped in syrup, Ted would have had a go at them. What he did appreciate though, was this: lamb on a spit. The side dish? Fries!



We turned a corner to check out the carnival-type booths they had going for kids, and I laughed out loud when I saw what they were using for the "Throw the ring around the bottle" game. I guess in some cultures, it's never too young to start.



I snapped this picture of a dude who was obviously at the wrong party.



And I've saved the best for last. During our wanderings, we ran into my former boss and his wife - co-owners of the mortuary where I worked a few years ago. We were delighted to see each other (Mary and I became good friends hanging out among the dead together), and what do you do when two people are so happy to see each other?? That's right! They hug!!

Well, in the time since I left that job to pursue my teaching career, Mary left the upper half of her wardrobe to pursue what she missed out on in heaven when she was standing in line (twice) for perverseness: boobies. I'm no small fry myself, but I swear, I hugged that woman and those things felt like two bocce balls on a board. I pulled back from her and exclaimed two words, "Whoa! Boobs!", then turned to Ted and asked "Have you hugged her yet? Here, hug her!" She laughed the whole time and then bragged she wasn't even wearing a bra... SO unfair. If I don't wear a bra, my belly button's got neighbors.

So Mary, here's my tribute to you:



OPA!!!