35

For posterity, this is me on my "halfway to 70" birthday. Two different people gifted me with tiaras, and more people made me feel special than I would have believed possible. It was a wonderful day.

...and yes, that's me wearing a tiara at work, wearing another one in the car, and enjoying coloring and cocktails (ok, juice) with Cassidy (not pictured: Matthew, Scott, and my "work boyfriends" Dave and Rob) at the Ale House after work!

Birthday Tradition

On my 30th birthday, my co-worker Donna bought me a big ol' mylar "30" balloon.  When I got home that afternoon, I had Scott take my picture with the balloon.  I don't know why I did it, probably because I'm kind of a sucker for balloons and this one was a definite record of where I was on the big 3-0.

For the past two years, I've continued the tradition in a less conspicuous way.  Instead of balloons, I've used finger counting to mark the years.  On birthday 31, I was in Animal Kingdom, and it was cold!  On birthday 32, we were killing time in a mall in Tampa when we stumbled upon racks of prom dresses.  For 33, because 3 is my lucky number (how could it not be? my birthday is 3-3 after all!), I made myself a prop.

The best thing about this picture, besides my sign, is the fact that it was taken in the Magic Kingdom at 1 am today, and I was wearing pajama bottoms. (nope, I wasn't the only one!)  Scott and I went last night for the "One More Disney Day" promotion.  MK was open for the "bonus" Leap Day for 24 hours (for some reason from 6 am to 6 am instead of midnight to midnight).  We got there right after the fireworks, and the crowd was horrific.  We waited in lines for food, bathrooms...even the never-has-a-line TTA!  We were planning on staying until 2 or 3, but we gave up slightly after 1 when we looped back to Tomorrowland to see that lines had actually gotten longer than they were from 9-10!  We really did have a wonderful time - it's so much more pleasant to wait in lines when you're not also suffering from sunstroke - but the congestion was disheartening.  I'm glad we didn't stay and try to wait out the crowds.  I read a tweet from 4:30 am saying the line for Haunted Mansion was "only" 20 minutes.

Lesson learned: never underestimate the Disney die-hards!

I'll be bringing my sign with me wherever we go for the rest of the weekend (including on my actual birthday).  Hopefully it'll have some good stories to tell.

32

Sometimes a girl is destined to try on a fancy dress.  After all, if it wasn't meant to be, it wouldn't have been on the rack in my size and I wouldn't have been wearing my clear-strap bra.

...and as I told Facebook, I justify this little "me time" by pointing out that 32 is really just two 16's.  I should have tried on TWO prom dresses!  And by the way, I love this dress WAY more than I loved my real prom dress, and possibly even more than my wedding dress.  Extra impressive when you consider Scott picked it out. I had my eye on a sparkly orange dress instead.

How appropriate that we went from the store to the theater for West Side Story.  I had to stop myself from singing along to 'I Feel Pretty!'

Double Nickels

Happy Birthday, Mom!



Maybe now that you have matured to 55 you'll stop trying to steal Carol's family.

BWAHAHAHAHA

Happy Birthday, Joshua*

*names changed to protect the innocent child

Scott and I just got back from dinner at TooJays, the closest thing central Florida has to a good Jewish deli. We were seated near 4 old people sitting at a big table. We ordered our drinks, and then the rest of their party showed up: mom, dad, a little boy, and a baby girl.

Fifteen minutes later, the cooing and cheek pinching and baby talk had slowed down enough that we could actually make out grown-up words mixed in. "Happy birthday!" "Do you like your new Star Wars bed?" "Did you think grandma for your new toys?" We got to sit through one of the women (my guess is not the mother) singing the theme song from "Elmo's World" to the baby girl. And then the conversation took a strange turn.

"Your birthday is important to a lot of people." Scott and I were trying to figure out why the Dad was trying to give the kid a Jesus complex. I wanted to turn around and tell the kid that no one outside of that table gave a damn about his birthday, and that some day soon he'd be old enough to know how obnoxious his family was and he'd be embarrassed. But I didn't. And that's a good thing. We had been mocking the conversation when all of a sudden snippets of conversation along the lines of "and a lot of people died..." and "they call it Patriot's Day" came toward us.

Oh. My. God. And so we learned:

a) 4(ish) is the age when you tell your kid about 9-11.
b) if your kid's birthday is on 9-11, you have to celebrate it a full week in advance. (really, the party is tomorrow)
c) TooJay's is the new Chuck-E-Cheese

Scott also got the fringe benefit of watching the family eating. I can't do justice to his description of Mom feeding the baby and herself at the same time, but trust me - I was suddenly glad they were only assaulting one of my senses!

Needless to say, the ambiance just wasn't great tonight. So we got a slice of cake (for my half-birthday) to go. If you'll excuse me, there's a zillion calories in the fridge calling my name.

Happy early birthday, Joshua.

BWoF Update

So...today marks the halfway point of Jamie's Birthday Weekend of Fun. So far, it's been... well... fun! I don't really want to stop and analyze too much, but for now I'll just mention that Katie and I went to see the Little House on the Prairie musical, and it was a wagon train wreck. We had a lot of fun with the snark and sarcasm though! And on my actual birthday? Crappy lunch, followed by a cold but incredibly rewarding trip to Animal Kingdom where I snapped this photo:

I'm not sure anything makes a completely amateur photographer happier than snapping a picture like this one.

...and then we had ice cream and Chinese food for dinner.

More to come on the BWoF as it develops (or after it develops)!

8 Days, 1 Month

There were no birds out this morning, so we're taking a brief pause from bird watching. Today we're going to discuss two big things I'm looking forward to!

Eight days from now, we've got a date night in Tampa... for WICKED! I cannot wait to see this show again, especially from our super kick-ass seats! Note to self: bring tissues.

One month from now... any takers? IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Thank goodness I won't be 30 anymore! We don't actually have any concrete plans. I don't even know for sure whether I'm going to take my actual birthday off from work (leaning towards yes). But I've got plans that weekend including a show in Tampa (with Katie, because Scott just doesn't want to see the Little House on the Prairie musical), dinner with friends (sorry Matt - it's dinner at a place without mac n cheese on the menu - I didn't think you'd mind the lack of invitation), and Oscar night 2010.

I'll leave you today with a picture taken at Gatorland last February. Their breeding marsh is a great place to see native birds. Snowy egret? I'm thinking so...

Food! Glorious Food!

I made reservations a few months back to spend Scott's birthday night at the limited time only Wishes Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom. What could be better than a dessert buffet with a reserved spot to watch the fireworks? Well, maybe a dessert buffet with a reserved spot to watch the fireworks AND an insulin shot!

Here's a selection of what we ate:

LEFT PLATE (clockwise from top): cheesecake, cannoli, glazed donut hole, banana tart, raspberry tart

CENTER: creme brulee

RIGHT PLATE: raspberry tart, creme brulee, chocolate-covered strawberry, chocolate peanut butter tart

TOP: tiramisu

It's safe to say we ate well. Sadly, Tinkerbell didn't fly because of the weather. She would have gone right over our heads though. And the view of the fireworks, though off-center from the castle, was amazing.

What a great event. If they resurrect it after the Halloween/Christmas Parties, maybe we'll go again some time.

Happy Happy

Happy

Birthday

SCOTT!

photo courtesy of these people

Bowling

Saturday night was the end of Jamie's-Birthday-Week-o-Fun. I invited a whole bunch of people out bowling, and five of us actually went. Besides me and Scott, Matthew (who I swear has gotten taller since the last time I saw him) and Katie and Abrah (my Encore girls) made the trip out to Winter Garden for some bowling fun.

Yeah, we're dorks. But we wear it well!

Anyway, about the time we started our second game, a group of four teenage boys showed up and seemed to be debating how long they wanted to stay. I groaned a sigh of old age when I heard one say "yeah, but we can't drive after 11." Well the boys were soon joined by more boys, and then a bunch of girls. There were probably 20 of them over two lanes, yelling and shoving each other, using our balls (umm...isn't there some sort of etiquette about that?), and acting like annoying little shits.

And then I realized: we've become the old people who get annoyed by teenagers doing teenage things. It's official. I'm in my 30's. I'm thinking about making a tombstone for my youth: "Here lies Jamie's first 30 years. She's sorry for all the annoying things she did in public."

Pass the Geritol, please!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Do I look a decade older to you?

Scott's Birthday Weekend-o-Fun

Scott's birthday weekend-o-fun '08 wasn't really jam-packed with activities. Well, not with planned activities. But we had fun.

Monday: This wasn't actually part of the weekend, because Scott had to work. We went to lunch at our favorite Japanese place, courtesy of some unexpected cash I received at work. After Scott left for work, I went shopping, made the cupcakes, and wrapped his one small present.

Tuesday (post midnight): I was on the phone with Scott while he was driving home from work, so I knew when he was close enough for me to light the candles. When he walked in the door, I yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY and he blew out the candles and we had cupcakes. And he opened the present - the second CD soundtrack to Moulin Rouge. (by the way, home made frosting rocks my socks off)

Tuesday (morning): I made cinnamon pancakes (with cream cheese frosting, which also works as a dip for apple slices) and "bellinis" for breakfast. And then, after all that sugar and booze, we took a nap.

Tuesday (afternoon): We Voted! Then, dinner at Bonefish Grill, followed by shopping at World Market and Barnes & Noble. Oh, and grocery shopping.

Wednesday: Trip to IKEA. Scott finally got the pot he's been coveting, and I got the cheapest dresser they have (and let me tell you - you get what you pay for!) and 2 night stands. We also got some random odds & ends.

After IKEA, we headed over to Universal CityWalk. We had some time to kill before the show, so we had margaritas outside of Margaritaville, and then had dinner at PastaMore. Yum - I love this place. I'd go all the time if it didn't involve paying Universal's ridiculous $12 parking fee! And after dinner, it was time for...

Blue Man Group!

I'm not even going to try to explain the show. The best I can come up with is this: complete sensory overload. It was crazy in the best possible sense. I really thought this was one of those "you should see it once" shows, but it turns out it's an "I want to go back tomorrow" show. We both loved it.

And thus concluded Scott's birthday weekend-o-fun. After the show, we went home and put together the dresser (it's still in the living room, along with the boxes for the other two pieces). Of course, we haven't finished the cupcakes. And there's still a tub of frosting in the fridge. I guess the weekend will live on a little while longer after all...

Hey Scott?

The cupcakes are devil's food (Duncan Hines) with cream cheese frosting (2 bricks of cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla beaten until my elbow went numb from my lack of stand mixer. that's right baby... from-scratch frosting!).

The cookies solved two problems for me: my inability to properly ice cupcakes and the fact that the only icing (the kind to write with) in the house was white and wouldn't show up against my white frosting.

Did you know a box of cake mix makes two dozen cupcakes? Well I actually exercised a little sense and only frosted the ones I needed for presentation. The rest of the cupcakes are in a freezer bag on the counter, and the remaining 2 cups of frosting (did I mention the 4 cups of powdered sugar???) are back in the fridge.

Tomorrow, we may be having cinnamon pancakes with frosting for breakfast. Anyway...

Happy Birthday Scott!

I hope you have a fabulous birthday weekend-o-fun. And I hope you like the cupcakes!

(and I'm sorry for wasting 13 of your Oreos!)

That Song!

I made it through my entire birthday without anyone feeling like they needed to sing Happy Birthday to me. I made it through the visit with mom two days later. And I even made it through work... right up until around 8:00 last night.

Girl Chef brought in an ice cream cake on Monday, forgetting that I wouldn't be there, and then she took Thursday off. So last night she brought it in the office with a candle and everything and made both managers sing to me. And then I got some Spanish birthday song too!

Bonus: I cut 5 pieces out of it for me, the chefs, and the bosses. I would have cut up the rest and let her feed the kids in the kitchen (not the servers, because I'm bitter and petty), but she made me take it home to Scott. So now there's 1/2 of an ice cream cake in my freezer. Yum!

Blue Steel

I'm sick, and am working on a Nyquil hangover. So here's a picture from my birthday... at Spaceship Earth (for Dummies) between my "birthday around the world" (Japan for dinner, drinks at Italy, dessert at Norway) and the party at Jellyrolls:

Happy Birthday to... MILO???

I barely got the paper off the box before Milo claimed it as his own! (Kilo never had a chance)

And of course, once Scott opened up the box, Milo moved right in.



I hereby open comments for photo captions and birthday wishes... because I'm shameless like that!

Happy Birthday Scott!

I hope you enjoy the new sunglasses I bought me!

OK, so I didn't buy my husband big pink shades for his birthday (but aren't they fabulous???). I also didn't buy him a lime green purse on clearance or a new blue dress shirt.

I bought him digital cable, which won't be installed until Tuesday afternoon. I also bought him a Pirates beach towel (which he doesn't like... c'est la vie) and a Pirates flag that hangs from a sword.

The sunglasses and the purse came from our afternoon of shopping at Target and Sears. Scott got a new video game, and we got 7 boxes of risotto (the Target brand mushroom risotto is amazing... 5 boxes of that was a compromise. Scott wanted to buy all 11 they had on the shelf. we also got 2 boxes of the tomato-herb), roach baits (trust me... this was NOT an impulse buy) and a bunch of other random crap.

We're heading out for dinner at Raglan Road in a little bit. Bangers and mash anyone?

Big Deal!

I've witnessed a lot in the past 24 hours. I watched a baby being born, held her when she was just minutes old, and I even saw a placenta (which they don't show you on A Baby Story!).

Mike and Reyna were nice enough to invite me along for the birth of their fourth baby. We went in last night and they induced her around 10 p.m. After some scary moments when they thought she might have to be born by c-section, she stuck it out and was born at 7:19 this morning. She's 7 pounds, 9 ounces and absolutely beautiful. She didn't even have that squished-face thing going on. And I was the third non-medical person to hold her.

I still haven't slept, and am pretty much delirious at this point, so I'm not even going to attempt to describe what it was like watching her go from a blip-blip-blip on the monitor to a live human being in just a moment. It's crazy to even think that I watched another human being start. I saw her first breath, heard her cry for the first time, and watched her make her first mischief - getting the black footprint ink all over herself and the baby nurse from kicking and squirming on the table.

Welcome to the world, Cadence Katherine (I am so calling you Catie Kate forever!)! Thank you for coming out the natural way. And thank your mommy and daddy for letting me tag along and be a part of your birth day. I hope you've stopped crying by now...

Previously Unreported

Birthday Festivities

I didn't bother reporting on my birthday evening because, quite frankly, it wasn't worth mentioning. Our plan was to go to the Brown Derby for dinner and then go see Fantasmic. In fact, I made a 4:40 reservation just so we'd be out in enough time to wait in line at the stadium. Dinner was pretty underwhelming. Our appetizers and our desserts were delicious (mmm... grapefruit cake..) but our entrees weren't spectacular, and certainly weren't worth $25 each! I'm not so much complaining. But we used a 50% off coupon and dinner was still $60. This was my second underwhelming experience there - I doubt I'll go back.

As for Fantasmic, it was pretty chilly out. It was drizzling on and off and the wind was blowing pretty hard. The idea of camping out on a metal bench freezing our butts off for an hour before the show just didn't thrill either of us. So instead we went home, piled a bunch of blankets on the living room floor and camped out and watched crappy movies on TV.

The Never-Ending Cavity

For this story, we'll have to rewind about two months. After my root canal at the specialist in downtown Orlando, I had to wait over a month for an appointment with my dentist to do the crown (mostly because they took two weeks off for the holidays). On January 22, he was going to do my crown (upper-right) and fill two little cavities in #18 and #19 (lower left). In the weeks preceding that appointment, one of those bottom teeth had become a little sensitive. So rather than fill both, he "cleaned out" #19 and we were going to see if it got better or worse before deciding whether or not it needed a root canal.

My next appointment was February 5, when it was decided he'd do a root canal. That was the time when he said "come back next week" and I couldn't get another appointment until the 26th. Of course, some time between the two appointments, the tooth really started to hurt. That's when I learned he'd done half of the root canal and would be finishing it on the 26th. So when I showed up at 8 am (grr) on the 26th I was ready for this tooth to never hurt again.

Yes, I know that it sometimes takes a few days to recover from a root canal. I was prepared to take ibuprofen non-stop for another two or three days. What I wasn't prepared for was the absolute agony my mouth would be in. I wasn't able to sleep on my left side, because I would wake up with white-hot pain covering the left side of my face. I was taking 600mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours (the package says not to take more than 1200 in 24 hours, if that gives you any indication). So Thursday I called and they prescribed me some pain killers (since the vicodin didn't do anything but make me high, they gave me darvocet) and yet another round of amoxicillin.

By yesterday morning, I could tell I was a little bit better. I still couldn't chew on the left side, but I wasn't in constant pain that the painkillers weren't touching. Still, I had Scott call the dentist and they were nice enough to fit me in at the end of the day. So they x-rayed the tooth again (and told me what a beautiful job he did). He actually filed the tooth down a little bit so that I can bite without banging it into my top teeth (by the way, this hurt A LOT - he didn't want to numb my whole jaw for 15 seconds of work). He listened to me when I said the first two pain pills didn't make the pain stop - that they just made me high - so he gave me a third prescription. And it seems that if the antibiotics don't knock out what he assumes is the infection that he thought he got out during the second half of the root canal in the next few days, apparently the next course of action is to pull the darn tooth and just put in a bridge. Yikes!

It does feel better. I'm guessing that it is infected and that the amoxicillin is doing its job. Amazingly enough, it seems that my vacation is paramount here. Both the dentist and the hygienist kept referencing it and saying we need to get it all taken care of so I'm not in pain. Funny, I was desperately in need of a root canal on the top in December for that cruise. I was just starting to think that I was doomed to carry ibuprofen with me everywhere for the rest of my life!

I just find the entire process ironic - there I was in January with two little cavities. Here I am in March with one cavity that hasn't even been touched yet, another that's still in trauma, and enough prescription pain killers to go into a black market side business. Scott, on the other hand, goes in to the dentist and comes out with a potentially catastrophic diagnosis on one of his teeth. Three appointments later, he's completely fixed.

But I know that expression that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Apparently I can - and will - handle a lot. I would just prefer to not handle it in my mouth!

One Down...Eight to Go

Can you believe it? Thanks to a monster chunk of vacation time taken this month, I am working a grand total of NINE DAYS (indicated in purple below). Every time I see that, I just laugh. It's ridiculous, right? Well, keep in mind that I only work 4 days a week anyway, and would have been working 19 days this month. It still doesn't sound like much. But trust me - I am going to enjoy those days off!

Scott and I took this weekend off for my birthday (which, by the way, is tomorrow. I expect you all to call and leave me birthday messages!). And we took two weeks off later in the month to go on vacation.

So what's on the agenda? Well let's focus on the near future. Tomorrow we're going to go to dinner at the restaurant of my choice and then we're going to see a show of my choice. Want more details? Wait until tomorrow night!

And of course, Tuesday we're going down to Tampa to see Wicked!

As for the big vacation, I'm not quite ready to reveal those details yet.

Speaking of birthdays, I mentioned mine to my boss last night (when I reminded him that I wasn't working this weekend). He said, "oh yeah, happy 29th." And I stopped and thought, "how does he know how old I am?" And after almost a minute, I realized that I'm not going to be 29 - I'm going to be 28. So we had a good laugh about the fact that I couldn't remember how old I am. And he noted that he knew I was in my "upper 20's" and that he was close. It took me until I was driving home last night to realize that when he said "29" he probably thought he was being polite and that I was, in fact, older than that.

Older than 29? That's 30+. Gah!