Three Decades

I feel like an awful wife.

You know those special occasions when you really feel like you want to step it up and make a big deal out of something? You want to do something out of the ordinary for once. Sure it takes planning and work, but it's a rare occasion when something like this comes up.

Well, your husband doesn't turn 30 every year. This is a big deal! You have to do something special to commemorate such a turning point. And it better be big.

Well, with all my previous hopes and aspirations of big parties and limitless lists of 30 this's and that's, Eric didn't get much at all for his big 3-0. I felt like such a shmuck. With the kids being sick, and my being sick, I didn't put forth the energy to plan anything, and Eric's birthday came and went, without bouquets of 30 balloons in his office, or a big neighborhood open house. Not even a date night out, because we couldn't do our baby-sitting swap with the kids being sick. So, Eric worked from home and we all went to Chick-Fil-A at the mall for lunch, just so we could get out.



Eric likes to be adventurous, and he usually requests something new each year for his birthday cake. He usually ends up making himself too! I didn't want him to make the whole thing by himself this year, so I at least poured batter into cupcake liners and frosted them. He chose pina colada as the flavor of the year. It was probably the highlight of his entire day. :)




Love these pics--you can tell how Jolie is sick, coughing on all the cupcakes (thank goodness we didn't invite anyone over to eat them with us!) and then her nose running all over her face. Nice.

Eric had already done some birthday shopping the week before, so there weren't even any presents to open. After the night was over, the kids tucked in bed, and I was saying my prayers, I just felt so awful that I hadn't done anything really special for Eric. So, I came back downstairs and wrote him a long card, making sure I included at least one list of 30 words that I thought described him best. That was the highlight of my day.

We did get in on some birthday ice cream later on in the week. We made our traditional trek to Coldstone.


And then Eric and I got a special treat last night. We were having a farewell dinner at our friends' house, and when the party was over they asked if we wanted to leave the kids there so we could go get ice cream by ourselves. Lovely! It was a very nice evening away, and much needed after a long past two weeks.

At least Eric got the essential elements for his birthday--lots of cake and ice cream. Because 30th birthdays should be filled with pina colada cupcakes, oatmeal cookie dough ice cream and vanilla frozen custard waffle cones.

Eric, even though I didn't show it the way I wanted to, I hope you know how lucky I feel to be married to you. I'm so grateful for your example, and the wonderful husband and father you are. Here's to your next 30 years.