I didn't know I was going to write this much when I started...

Overall it was a grand birthday weekend. We bought pillows on the way to the Rangers game Friday night. I always love buying stuff for the house so I used the Target gift card that my sister gave me on pillows for the couch and sandalwood scented candles. I bought the new Hootie and the Blowfish CD too. I love me some Hootie! This album is a lot more grown up and contemplative than some of their stuff, which excites me. I like deep thoughts. I mean it's not Socrates or anything, but it's inquisitive and I admire that. So we bought Hootie and listened to it on the way to Arlington. The Rangers beat the Mariners 5-3. We noticed during the game that Ichiro always stands like he has to pee when he's in the batter's box. Whatever works. He sure gets a lot of hits that way. In the fifth inning we started talking about how blessed we feel to have found a relationship that grows constantly and is this happy and healthy. That conversation lasted until the bottom of the ninth. My favorite cousin Kristi (she's the only one who reads this blog) told me in an email on Friday to be grateful for what we have, so I passed that along to Angela and it sparked a lengthy conversation. Thanks Kristi. I love ya.

Saturday was interesting. While I was at work Angela hustled to get the house ready for company that night. The refrigerator that was supposed to be delivered last Tuesday was rescheduled for Saturday, but once again that was cancelled because it "didn't arrive on the truck" from the Kitchenaid peeps. The Great Indoors is doing their best to fix this, but it's a mess right now. So we had that to deal with Saturday morning. I picked Angela up after I got off work so we could go handle some of it together. When we got home from checking out another refrigerator store we were hungry and stressed and we needed to finish mowing the yard and cleaning the house (plus we had the added pressure of needing to make the day better than any other day because it was my birthday). Angela was excited for me to open one of my gifts right when we got home, but I wanted to rest for a minute, so it came across like I wasn't excited about the gift. I totally was. And I felt bad. So all of that stress combined made me cry. Then I felt like a wimp and it made me mad. Then I checked our voice mail and there was a message on there from my mom and dad, my sister Jodi, and my niece Jada singing happy birthday to me. Jada (she's 2) was singing right along with everybody else and at the end she said, "Habby Boot-day Nen!" Oh my. That kid owns me. So that made both of us cry. The first half of Saturday was just nutty.

We had a great time at Mi Cocina Saturday night. My friends Amy and Sara brought "Happy Birthday sport" balloons and tied them to my wallet so the balloons went everywhere I went. Fun! They were decorated with footballs and basketballs, and I loved and appreciated them more than any seven year-old boy ever could. They know me well. We had a table for 14, which turned out to be seven couples including Angela and me. Lisa and Lezli have been together for eleven years, Angela and I for seven years, several couples for three or four years, and one couple had only been dating for a few months. We had the relationship spectrum covered. After dinner we all went back to our house and had a big ole hen party and chatted about life and love and the importance of having socks that you can put in the microwave. This way the partner who is always cold doesn't feel neglected when the partner who is always hot doesn't want to turn the heat on. It's all about balance. I felt incredibly blessed to have been surrounded by all of these awesome couples on my birthday and I'm looking forward to our next big hen party. We're all good for each other.

We still don't have a refrigerator. The coolers worked great Saturday night, but the ice is melted now and I have to go buy more. We have to re-stock for Monday Night Football. Go Cowboys...