Day 6/7/8 of 30 Thankful Days

Ok...so, I'm a little behind.  But, I have a valid excuse.  Really.   I promise.  It'll become more clear as we go along.  So...since I have a little catching up to do...

Day 6 (aka Election Day)

In detail:
While the results of the election (and I did watch them come in live...there was a lot of refreshing going on) may not have been what I was hoping for, I am deeply grateful and moved by the privilege to make my voice heard.

I'll even admit to getting a little teary eyed (yes, tear fingers necessary) when I think about the sacrifices so many people have made to obtain and preserve this privilege for me (some of whom were my own ancestors).  And I firmly believe it is the duty of each eligible voter to honor that privilege and those sacrifices by exercising that right whenever possible!

Day 7 (aka my birthday!)

In detail:
As my friend Shaine puts it, my birthday is my favorite holiday.  My parents (especially my mom) did an excellent job of making me feel extra special on each and every birthday I had growing up.  A tradition which has continued over the years, past adulthood and straight into the present.

This birthday was no different.  We celebrated as a family a day early, on election night.  It was a low key  evening; just they way I wanted it.  We had a delicious steak dinner, followed by a lovely and tasty chocolate cake (with Ghiradelli curls on top - or so my father said).

Then there came the presents.  Every year I tell my parents not to go overboard, especially since I'm a grown up now.  But they still spoil me.  I love how much they want to show their love to me and I appreciate the thought and effort they put into demonstrating it.  As usual, they did an excellent job (although I will admit that I think I've had Soft Kitty from The Big Bang Theory stuck in my head on an off for 3 days now...).

The following day, my official birthday, I was able to work from Concord for one of my last 3 days where I was treated to lunch at Sizzler by some of my favorite colleagues.  I was also gifted some lovely flowers by my parents.

Oh and I almost forgot the cake saga.  Man, I should have made this a separate post altogether.  Oh well, too late now, and I'm not leaving this story out!

So I brought the remainder of the cake from my family celebration to work to share with my colleagues since there was about 7/8 of a 3 layer cake left.  Well, along the way the cake sort of...collapsed?  divided?  I'm not sure how to describe it other than it basically turned into the Grand Canyon of cakes (or as I described it to a couple of people, an inverted Aztec pyramid).  I pretty much figured there was no way I was going to be able to salvage that.


Well then after lunch, two of the installers (Feng and JC) stopped and bought me a birthday cake.  Which they walked over to my cube and proudly handed me, pronouncing "Happy Birthday" and then walked away, refusing to partake of said cake.  Okay, so I have a pretty well established sweet tooth, but there's no way I can eat nearly two whole cakes!  I prevailed upon our admin at work to invite all the employees at Concord that day to a "cake break" at 2pm where both cakes were shared (we managed to salvage what then became termed the "homage to Tropical Storm Sandy" cake).  I think my favorite part about the whole thing was that many of my colleagues were very confused about why we were having cake and kept wishing me the best at my new job and hoping to cross paths with me in the future.  Well, they probably will, next week, when I'm back in the office in Concord again.  :-P

The evening was spent with Katy and Lisa D.  We did a delicious dinner at Eddie Papa's followed by some excellent shopping at the mall.  Then Lisa and I ran into Jessica at Target and got to do some shopping with her as well.

And to top it all off, when I got home I found a surprise on my door - Jessica had heart attacked me while we were at dinner!  It's my first official heart attacking and it was pretty awesome.

Oh, and throughout the day I was treated to very sweet Facebook birthday wishes and text messages.  All in all, I felt really loved and grateful for all the support.

 Day 8 (today...aka catch up day)

In detail:
I think tonight was my opportunity to recover from the very full and very good last two days.  I worked from 9 to 6:15, with a cake break at around 4 pm.  That's right, I got yet another birthday cake, that makes a grand total of 3 this year, from my new boss.


I got home at 7 and spent the evening in my cozy footie pajamas with my butt parked on the couch, watching T V.  Oh yeah, with some of my favorite candles burning.  It was pretty much exactly what I needed!

Heart Attack