at what age is one considered over the hill?

i hope i’m not there yet, though some days i feel like i already am.  : p  so, i had a birthday this past weekend.  unfortunately, phil was on call (which means he works a 24-hour shift in the hospital and doesn’t come home til the next morning) on my actual birthday.  he had to work three weekends this month and so we both agreed that he should work this past weekend in order for the big bear trip to happen earlier in the month.

but!  thanks to a wonderful little thing called “parents’ night out” (pno), we were able to have a dinner date the evening before.  once or twice a month, the church where our kids go to preschool provides three hours of babysitting on a friday evening so that the parents can go out on a date without kids.  it’s one of the ways the church blesses the community and it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.  phil and i have made use of this almost every month this school year and it’s really gone a long way in encouraging us in our marriage.

so anyway, we dropped off the kiddos and were off!

phil had made a reservation for a table for two.  i just love when he makes reservations for a table for two.

here i am trying not to look too giddy over a night out but failing miserably.

perusing the menu.  the restaurant was almost empty when we first got there so we pretty much got to sit anywhere we wanted.  i happily chose a corner table next to the big windows.

like i said, the restaurant was pretty empty when we first got there.  see us in the big mirror?  but every table was filled by the time we left. 

mmm, crusty bread.  but i would’ve rather had butter to slather on it instead of this odd, chilled tomato dipping sauce thing.

we ordered two appetizers to share.  i ordered this lovely plate of risotto, blue crab, and crawfish cakes on top of an avocado salad served with a balsamic reduction.  it was delicious.  pretty much my favorite dish of the night.

phil got this french onion granitee (french onion soup with cheese on top).  and yes, i did pull the cheese off the sides and ate it.  actually, phil pulled it off for me and slipped it on my plate.  i just love toasty cheese.

phil ordered this citrus halibut only to remember that he doesn’t like fruit in his main dish once the plate was served.  but i liked it!

i ordered the braised colorado lamb shoulder served with creamed white corn, white corn polenta, and mint fava bean pesto.  homey and delicious, but a bit too salty.

for dessert, we ordered the vanilla and chocolate brioche bread pudding.  we’re not usually big fans of bread pudding, but these (especially the one in the back!) were sooo good.

so, phil and i, we like to linger over our date dinners, order lots of stuff to try and sit around talking as we eat.  it usually ends up taking most of the three hours of babysitting time we have and there’s not much time left to do anything besides head back to pick up the kids.  but i don’t need anything more after a lovely, hot meal that i can eat at my leisure without a million interruptions from my monkeys.  and so, i was quite content to consider this my birthday meal and was all set to spend the next day with the kiddos doing our usual routine at home.

i got to hang out with these two on my birthday.  and i seriously considered just leaving all of us in our pajamas for the day since, hey, it WAS my birthday after all.  but mikey (who wasn’t feeling entirely well that day) thought it was too weird and wanted all of us to get dressed.  so we did.

hung out with this one, too.

it was a quiet day spent at home with my kids.  but still i loved it and considered myself very blessed.

but surprise!  the next morning, phil and the kids came into the room with breakfast in bed for me.  i hesitate to post this picture because i literally woke up only seconds before.  i think i was even in the middle of some bizarre dream and wasn’t fully awake yet.  but my sweet hubby, who only got one hour of sleep while being on call the night before, still stopped by the market to buy stuff to put this together.

there was also a card from him.  he has quite the knack for picking out just the right card with just the right words inside.  i love that about him.

and inside the card…  there was also a gift certificate to my favorite camera store!  woo!  now, THAT was a complete surprise.

blowing out the candle.  with a little help from allie.

and last but not least, a dozen roses already in a vase on the kitchen table.

aww.  thanks honey for going above and beyond.  i thank the Lord for giving me you and still think you’re the best.  🙂