birthday presents

You know how the saying goes: "It's more blessed to give than to receive." So I started my birthday right by giving myself a 4-day weekend. My birthday is actually today, so it was a weekend full of fun leading up to the big celebration. Not that I'm really having a BIG celebration, as in party or anything. But I am celebrating big in my heart.

Anyway, what did I do these four glorious days? Well, I mentioned in the previous post that Saturday I spent the day with my daughter at the zoo, which was a lot of fun and, yes, I took tons of pictures (I was nice and only gave you a sampling of the 300 I actually took). RL had left Saturday morning to go hunting and wouldn't be home until Sunday night, so I took advantage of an empty house and cleaned my little heart out. No, I didn't clean my heart -- I cleaned the house!! That might sound like a strange way to celebrate, but believe me, it was a gift for my soul.

Yesterday I continued the giving and went shopping. Now some of you may think that is a typical thing for a woman to do and you would probably be right, except I'm not your typical woman. If you'll notice, #38 of the 100 Things About Me states plainly: I hate shopping. To make it more enjoyable I planned the day, made a list, and headed to the big discount members only warehouse store. (Yeah, well, there's a whole lot more there than bulk quantities of Charmin.)

Ok, I did stop off at the mall first. But that was because I needed to take my wedding rings in for repair and some other jewelry to be checked and cleaned. I hadn't planned on roaming down to the shoe store that just happened to be having a "buy one pair and get the second at half price" sale. So, of course, I had to buy two pairs of shoes. I needed some comfy casual shoes. Really. And it seemed a shame to pass up another pair of shoes at half price!

And I couldn't help that, on my way back to the jewelry store, I had to pass the cellular phone kiosk. But since I did I thought I would see if they had a case for my phone. I didn't know I was eligible for a new phone! Hey, it's my birthday weekend -- what a cool gift!! (Actually, it turned out that I wasn't really eligible for the upgrade until the 29th. So thank you, Sam, Paris, and Jeremy for making it happen.)

So after two hours I finally made it back to the jewelry store, picked up my fully inspected, bright sparkly clean jewelry and headed to . . . oh wait! You should have seen them. Simple, shiny, 14K white gold hoop earrings just screaming, "Happy Birthday!"

When I finally made it to the big discount members only warehouse to purchase miscellaneous and much needed items, I discovered there were only two remaining black leather jackets in my size. I couldn't risk waiting for RL to buy me one for Christmas. They'd BOTH be gone. I did what any rational giving person would do. I gave myself one!

This morning RL wished me a very, VERY happy birthday and later asked me if I wanted my gift now or if I wanted to wait until tonight at dinner (at a very special seafood restaurant). Of course I want it now! So this is what my loving husband gave me. It's our children's birthstone and I absolutely love it!

And just when I thought I had received all the gifts any girl could ever imagine, I walked my husband to the door, kissed him goodbye as he was leaving for work, closed the door, walked back into the living room, and to my great surprise discovered my dog had left me a present as well! YIPEE! More cleaning. Happy Birthday to Me!!

quickie

I was driving in to work this morning and heard on the radio about a guy selling candles online. You may recall last december I wrote about candles scented for men. Well, dang it, someone stole my idea. Except he calls them mandles.

as seen on tv

It was suggested in the comments of the previous post that, for our anniversary, I should buy RL a Platinum CD. So I did some research (cause, ya know, I'm all about that) and decided to put it to a vote. Which Platinum CD should I get him?

• Mosnters of Rock
• KISS (Kiss My Ass) Double Platinum
• David Bowe
• Naughty Platinum Rock
• Queen Greatest Hits
• Uriah Heep
• Monster Ballads

Available for a limited time.

Vote now!!

Void where prohibited

in & out shopping

I think I've mentioned before how shopping is not one of my favorite things. Don't get me wrong, I don't really hate shopping . . . ok, actually I do. Though I have had the occasional mother/daughter shopping trips, strolling for hours through the mall or down a quaint street with dozens of shops and boutiques to wonder in and out of never purchasing a thing. *takes deep breath* But usually I would rather just go into the store, get what I need, and get out.

Then came the internet. OMG!! I never thought shopping could be so easy. For RL's birthday I searched the world wide web over for just the PS2 game he wanted and found it at at local store (because I was a procastinator and didn't have time to wait for it to be delivered to the house). I called, asked if they had the game in stock (the last one!), and if they would hold it for me. When I got to store that evening after work I walked in, picked up the game from customer service, paid, and was out the door. Love it, love it, love it!

Later this month RL and I will be celebrating our anniversary. So after having such good luck for his birthday I decided I would see what I could find online for our anniversary. I did a little research and discovered we'd be celebrating our platinum year (20th) and wondered what I could find. Unfortunately, I can't afford the platinum jewelry and I don't think the platinum box set of Cinderella would be quite appropriate. I opted, rather, for a non-platinum item that will arrive in my mailbox, before the eventful day, covered (hopefully) in a plain brown wrapper. And , let's face it, shopping for more intimate items is just so much easier online than in person.

I love technology

gift idea

Along with most people this time of year, I've been trying to come up with gift ideas. The way my mind wanders, though, it's difficult to stay on task. The other day I was thinking about what to get my brothers for Christmas and thought how nice it would be if they were as easy to buy for as women. I mean, generally you can buy a woman things like candles and they're pleased as punch. Most women, because really I'm not much into the candle thing. But, anyway, I was thinking about that and then I thought wouldn't it be great if they had scented candles for women and men. Surely if they can make jelly beans taste like all kinds of things they can make a candle with any kind of scent. Scents that instantly send your mind back to your childhood or any number of memorable experiences. Then a list of scents popped into my head that I thought would be great gifts.

candle scents for her:
first snow
summer rain
newborn baby
fresh brewed coffee
Sunday dinner at Grandma's
bread baking in the oven
s'mores

candle scents for him:
popcorn
salami & cheese
hickory
bacon & eggs
saltwater
sundried denim
tanned leather

If I were to buy you a candle for Christmas what scent would it be?