Saturday was my birthday and for once, it didn't suck. In fact, it didn't even come close to sucky. Actually, the past few weeks have been pretty darn good.
Now, I don't normally expect to get birthday presents and I'm ok with that. In my house we have made a tradition of birthdays being about having fun and spending time with family and friends. For the kids, there are usually one or two small gifts, but they aren't really the highlight of the day and I like it that way. Besides that my birthday is barely two months after Christmas, so I generally don't have a wish list yet. This year all I asked for was that I could go to a salon for a hair make-over. In November, right before my littlest sister got married, I put a "temporary" red wash in my hair to spice things up a bit. Nearly four months later it was still there but faded and rather ugly (think across between tomato juice and orange crayons.) I knew I would need professional help to take care of it so a week or so ago I found an excellent salon nearby and managed to get a same-day appointment with their top colorist. The stylist was amazing and I don't think my hair has looked this good in years! It cost plenty (as I knew it would) but you really do get what you pay for. Even though it was a few weeks early, I counted it as my birthday gift and I thought that would be it for me this year.
Imagine my surprise when both my husband AND my father presented me with gifts a few days later! First, DH went out and found the small handheld sewing machine that I have been looking at since I bought WP one for Christmas. I had the choice of opening it then or waiting until my actual birthday, but I couldn't wait and I've already used it twice. A few days later, WP drove down to hang out for the day and brought me a really awesome yarn and ribbon rack that he made himself out of PVC. Again, it was early, but of course, I didn't mind!
If nothing else happened to commemorate my birthday, I would be just fine with it, but things kept getting better. My favorite Native American Pow Wow of the year just happened to fall on my birthday this year and we all planned on going. Friday night, however, DH told me that he wanted to take me out for dinner since we wouldn't be able to do anything but the pow wow on my actual birthday. LH had a friend stay overnight so we left TD and EG with them and had a child free night without having to pay for a sitter! We had a nice, quiet evening out enjoying dinner, drinks, and dessert without kiddos in two. No public humiliation or waitstaff singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of their lungs. Just an incredible dinner paired with the perfect wine and delicious dessert to wrap it up.
The next morning I got to sleep in without interruption and I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the world. DH always has a lot to do to get ready for a pow wow but the morning was free for me. So, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of shopping FOR MYSELF!!!! Boy did I need it, too! I was down to one pair of jeans (without holes in conspicuous places), two pair of gym shorts, and a handful of t-shirts. With the little bit of weight I managed to lose over the last month I haven't really dropped a dress size or anything, but I have built up my self esteem enough that I want to look halfway decent when I leave the house.
I drove out to my favorite department store - the one with the awesome petite section - and took my time searching through the clearance section for great deals. I found plenty! I even treated myself to some new foundation wear and some comfy (yet stylish) sneakers. It feels so wonderful to have clothes that fit comfortably, are flattering to my figure instead of covering me up, and are even fashionable and classy. The new bra makes me look at least five pounds thinner! Between the new hair do and the fabulous wardrobe I feel like I won an extreme makeover!
The rest of the day was just perfect, as well. I got home just in time to help everyone braid their hair (it's traditional to wear braids with your pow wow regalia.) I wore one of my new outfits and felt like a million bucks. The girls were all in great moods and everyone had a good time dancing and eating fry bread and scrambling for candy. At the end of the night, we even managed to get the girls (and the husband) changed and out the door before the last of the vendors had packed up. Normally we are the LAST ones out of the building. The girls were exhausted from all the fun so we had no trouble getting them to bed and they even slept in the next morning.
We wrapped up the weekend with a slow day. The weather was just amazing outside so the kids got to go out and run off some cabin fever and DH got to take care of some work in the garage. Unfortunately, I was right in the middle of rearranging the office when The Migraine hit. I figured a perfect weekend was too much to pay for. I guess I had to pay somehow for all the fun I had. I was SO frustrated! After being so happy and energetic it felt awful to have to crawl into bed and cover up my head. I was in too much pain to consider anything else. I did, however, have a few more weapons in my arsenal than I usually do. I don't take any of the meds that are specifically made to combat migraines anymore because the side effects end up being as bad as the migraine. Instead, I used the TENS Unit that Dr The Mann gave me and it actually worked! It wasn't a quick fix; it took a few hours to get the pain to go completely away. The fact that it DID go away was miraculous! I don't know if this will work for every headache, but I am going to try this first from now on. Today I still have a bit of a headache, but it is bearable compared to what it was like yesterday.
So that was how my birthday weekend went. How did you spend your time? Did you have awesome weather like we did here in Texas? Let me know!
Deb Lollar
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