Happy Birthday to me...

Yesterday could have been a downright rotten day, given the recent circumstances that I just blogged about in my prior post. It turned out great!

Started the day with a phone call from my mom just after I got up. I probably wasn't too coherent yet but it was still nice to hear from her.

Then on to work. Greeted by my 2 year old, who when prompted told me, "Happy Birthday Natalie!" (her name.) That is so typical of her and gave me a big smile. She also brought me a vase of flowers. Later my 4 month old came in with nice birthday greetings as well. Then at lunchtime, my 3 1/2 year old and 15 month old came in, also with flowers as well as a gift card to go out to eat (from all three families.) That was nice! I also had a card signed from all my co-workers and another from a member that I've gotten to know quite well over these last few years.

Checked my Facebook during lunch break. I couldn't believe the number of people who had posted birthday greetings. The final count, including the one just before midnight and the one just after midnight, was over a hundred. That was undescribably cool. A nice cross section, too, of all the different ways I know people. Family, co-workers, church friends, scouting friends, geocaching friends. And quite a few notes that were more than a simple "Happy Birthday." Didn't hear from my boys but know they are busy in Egypt. They called and left early birthday wishes on the answering machine last Friday night.

Our plans for my birthday were to go to the Melting Pot, a local fondue restaurant. It can be a bit pricey, so since it would just be Steve and I, I decided this would be the year. I raised the question, after Wednesday, whether we should still go. Steve was ok with still going. So we did.

We arrived and found a birthday card from the restaurant at the table, nice touch! First course was a traditional Swiss cheese fondue, made at the table. Especially nice since we never did end up having fondue in Switzerland! Dipping bread, apples, and veggies into the cheese tasted good. Second course - an assortment of main dish items with hot broth to cook them in, plus a variety of dipping sauces. We had chicken, shrimp, steak, potstickers, as well as potatoes, broccoli, & mushrooms to cook. Umm, good. But the best was yet to come. Yes, chocolate! Glad I forgoed a birthday cake as this was just as good if not better! Called Yin and Yang chocolate, it was dark chocolate swirled with white chocolate. They brought an assortment of goodies to dip into it, centered was a slice of cheesecake with a birthday candle in it. Also was brownies, rice krispy treats, marshmallows, bananas, strawberries, and pound cake. If I could have licked the pot I would have...end of the night brought two movie tickets, part of the package. We are saving them for another time.

After we got home, my sister Debbie called and we had a nice talk. I had talked to Judy via FB on Sunday so didn't expect a call from her. Then worked on some scouting stuff for our Wood Badge orientation meeting which is tonight, and went to bed. Too much diet coke didn't allow for a restful sleep, it definitely affects me more since I don't drink it all the time.

I started off my 51st year quite nicely, I think!