Surprises

I don't get surprised easily, like never. These last few days have been full of surprises and I was CLUELESS with them all. Seriously, that never happens with me. Carie got me at work last week with a beautiful lunch with a theme, of course. She HAS to have a theme. The theme was Italy and it was delicious! Homemade lasagna, garlic bread, a cake with the Italian flag, etc. It was awesome!

Today, I took my kids out to lunch to a new little Cuban place and it was yummy. But then out of the blue, my friend, Charity, walked in with a huge bouquet of balloons. I was shocked! She got me!

I got on to facebook for only a few minutes before my internet stopped working and OMG-all the wonderful and surprising birthday wishes! I was shocked and felt like a million bucks! Thank you so much to everyone for such nice thoughts and wishes. It was really cool. I can't wait to be able to read them all.

We went to the Melting Pot tonight for a little celebration and there were some things that took place that weren't surprising:

1. I was so full I thought I'd bust!

2. When the chocolate fondue was empty to most people's standards, my dad and I scrapped the sides of the pot. We weren't done. It was so good and I definitely got my chocolate tooth from my dad.

3. My mother gave me an interesting gift. Her thriftiness is quite amazing, but not surprising at all. You'll have to check out the photo!

Coming home from dinner, we decided to inhale all the helium from the balloons I got at dinner. Hysterical! Then on my doorstep was another "gotcha". Fruit and chocolate are my 2 favorite foods (and ice cream and pizza). Combine the two-chocolate and fruit and what do you get? Healthy, yummy, edible bouquet bliss! Ahhhh, yes!

Ok, so here are some of the amazing gifts I received these last few days. Check out the purple, candle, light thing. That's from my mother. She is the queen of cheap. She usually leaves the price tag on her gifts and they've all been marked down, then down and then down again. This one didn't have a tag, but she did inform me that it was originally $40, but she would NEVER spend that much. So when it went down to 75% off, she snatched it up....lucky ME! If my mother spent anything less on a gift, then there wouldn't be a gift and I wouldn't have anything to laugh about! So these gifts are different and cheap and usually quite ugly, but I love them.

Now this is the BEST gift of all!! Kaity made this in pottery for ME and it's gorgeous!! It's priceless as are my friends! Thank you to so many wonderful people in my life who made this such a great day and a surprising, eventful, wonderful few days. Thanks G F'n D, you are the best surprise of all! xoxoxo

Senior Night

Senior Night finally happened. It was a bit surreal. I've been to other senior nights over the years and they were......nice, sweet really. This night, this year, this time, was Kaity's time and it was hard with a capital H! My tears were flowing as soon as I made eye contact with her. She's just a little girl, my baby....how can this be? But it was real and it was happening. The steps I took on the field were the same steps that so many other parents have taken and that should have been comforting. But it wasn't. In my head I kept hearing, "this is it. this is the last time she will ever be on this field". (my mind doesn't use capitals, I guess)

This picture puts a knot in my throat every time I look at it. Liz and Jay Tirrell (the NICEST people in the world) walking their senior down, Ali and Liz grabbing the hand of her other daughter, Abbey.

Thank you, Tirrells for hosting such a great party. Your house was full of love. Everyone there felt it. Thank you, to all the parents for the delicious food you brought. The night was a huge success with just another wonderful lacrosse memory made.

Senior Sadness

I have been working nonstop on some Senior Surprises....Shhhhh. Senior Night is next week for lacrosse. OMG, I can't believe it's almost here. Anyway, I've been using every spare second I have to create some presents that I hope will be cherished for years to come. I took the day off today to try to get these done. I've had 3 cups of coffee so far and I was doing great, until I started working on Femke's (Kaity's best friend)gift. And it hit me. This is it.....it's almost over. I LOVE these girls so much, it hurts. I've watched them for the last 3-4 years on the field, in my car and at my house. Femke is a daughter to me, she means so much to me. I'm going to miss each one of them so much. So I took a little break from my "work" to wipe the tears and take a deep breath (and a long pee from all that coffee). I'm hoping God or vodka or something will give me the strength to finish these projects in time and to get through Senior Night without ending up as a big puddle on the side of the field...I can do this, I can do this, I WILL do this!

Madeline and Lizard

Kaity, Femke and Erika

My Kaity

Ali-I LOVE you!! 18 this Friday-WOW!

Kaity, Coach Howie, Femke Femke and Harry!