The Birthday Boy

(pictures to follow)

Thanks in large part to me, Chad had a pretty lame birthday weekend.

When he got off work on Friday, he had to drive straight over to a local middle school where one of the choirs was performing, and I had to accompany them. That took until about 7:00. We came home and Chad opened his gift from me (in the back of the Subaru because I couldn't move it). I got him a 12" compound sliding miter saw with laser guide because he has been talking about one for a long time. More specifically "one that can cut angles". I had been watching them since January, and this seemed like a good deal at Harbor Freight. So now he can build all sorts of who-knows-what. (Let me just say, I did not realize what a beast that machine is...)
Other awesome gifts Chad got:
The seasons of News Radio on DVD from his parents and Kari & Eric.
Something from my parents that has yet to arrive in the mail.
Lego Creator set from the couple we went out with on Saturday.

After that, we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner, because Chad likes it and it's the only time I will let him go. He had a yummy steak and even yummier garlic mashed potatoes. (I may have sampled). I had fried "Fish 'N' Chips". I don't have nice things to say about my dinner. There may have been a Bloom N Onion involved, but just typing those words makes my stomach turn.

We got home and tried to watch a movie, but I promptly fell asleep. Chad woke me up around 11 or midnight when it was over. It was then that I remembered I was supposed to at least bake the cake of his birthday cake that night. I had completely forgotten about it. I wanted to bring the cake to Rexburg when we met up with some friends of ours, but if I got up early, I could still make it in the morning before we left. So we went to bed.

I got up Saturday morning, and became painfully aware that I was not feeling good. I watched the clock tick by the minutes and eventually pass the 8:00 mark which would have been the latest I could have started the cake to have it ready for that afternoon. I was sick all day, and blamed it on my unhealthy dinner the night before. Chad mowed the lawn. (It was a BEAUTIFUL morning.) Around 10:45, it was time to leave for Rexburg. We had been planning this outing for a month, and we had a coupon that expired the next day, so we had to go. It was really fun despite the horrendous stomach cramps. We went bowling at Fat Cats with our college couple friend whom we don't see very often since we moved. (They are having a baby in October!! They took care of PigPig several times while we were out of town.) Anyways, we got 2 hours of bowling, shoes, large pizza and two pitchers of soda for $25. It was really fun to bowl and catch up. My scores were pretty lame (70's - 80's), except my last game when I got a 146!!

I was feeling pretty good by the time we left Fat Cats (around 3:00) but the car ride back to Ammon didn't do me any favors. I slept most of the rest of the evening/night. Pretty much from 4 or 5-ish to 8:00 the next morning. Somewhere in there it was discovered that I had a fever, so it was decided I should stay home from church the next day. (Remember that whole "stay-out-of-contact-with-people-for-24-hours-if-you've-had-a-fever" thing that nobody follows anymore? Maybe that was just our school system, but it probably helped contain some contamination.)

We spent the morning being lazy and watching The West Wing. I tried to eat a few things, which made my stomach rumble. I don't know what's going on in there. We took Lady out to the park since she had been cooped up inside with us all weekend. When we got home, we took another nap, and then I took on the task of completing Chad's birthday weekend extraordinaire by baking his cake. I finally got it done around 10:00 and he blew out candles, ate a small piece, and went to bed.

I have been feeling pretty good, but then I'll eat something and wonder if it will upset the fragile equilibrium of my stomach. I have been really cautious because I'll take a bite of something and almost immediately get a slight stomach cramp if it doesn't agree with me.

So on a weekend when I should have been catering to him, he had to wait on me. It was pretty lame.

But I guess he still turned 31 anyway, so it was a success. (He thinks he's so old because he's 31 and doesn't have any kids yet. Most of the husbands out of our married friends are 24-26ish. He complains that kids he went to high school with have 2 or 3 kids by now. I told him he shouldn't have robbed the cradle if he wanted a honeymoon baby... I also tell him he should be grateful he's 31 but at least he has a house, a full time job and a wife - and eventually he will have kids running around breaking things and bugging him for money) Also - 31 didn't seem so old until I started putting candles on the cake. Holy cow.

In other news, Outback Steakhouse has officially made my list of foods I can't eat now because the last time I tasted them, they were on their way back up. I just barely tried hot cocoa again, after a near-10 year ban was lifted. However, flavored hot cocoa (raspberry, etc.) is still on the list. I have never eaten another of my mom's sugar cookies after I got sick eating them when I was 7 or 8. Boiled shrimp made the list Christmas of 2000 or 2001. Who knows how long this embargo will last. I don't know if I would be happy or sad if that happened to something like donuts. I really like donuts. More than I should. I don't know if I would be happy that I wouldn't swoon in the bakery section anymore, or if I would be sad to never taste another donut...

Anywho... So here I am at school. The problem is, I usually bring a lunch so I don't have to try to get home and back in the 35 minutes they give us for lunch. But, if I don't know what my stomach can handle, I can't anticipate what I'm going to want to eat for lunch. So I have to go home for lunch. Which is stressful because the parking lot is a mess (the kids can leave for lunch) and I have to rush.

Seriously, though, I feel like I slept all weekend, and I could've slept more if I didn't have to get up and go to work this morning.

Can you tell I'm bored? This has been a long boring post about my stomach. Sorry about that.

I hope this post finds your stomach in better shape than mine.