HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, Part II

So, last weekend, the stretch of my birthday celebration continued at Justine's!!!!!!! She surprised me with this HEAVENLY peanut butter frosted cake!!! It was to die for. Amazing as it may seem, after eating 1/2 the cake, I lost five pounds!!! Justine, I'll take another!!!!

Every month at our office, Justine makes a birthday cake to celebrate all birthdays in the month. Well, there were at least 8 Libras in the bunch. She asked what kind of cake we wanted. Someone yelled out chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (YUCK!), then someone said chocolate cake with plain frosting (BORING)! I said, "I'll take a little bit of chocolate cake with this much peanut butter frosting"---holding up about an inch for measurement. Everyone BOOOEEEDD over that idea. No one likes chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting???!!! I said, "That's alright. I'll buy one and bring it in for myself"...laughing at the thought that none of us could decide on one cake. :-) In that moment, Justine took CAREFUL note of the equilibrium between cake and peanut butter frosting necessary to create this masterpiece!!!!!!!!!

She remarked that it was not an easy task but what comes easy when dealing with "THE DUCHESS"??? :-) He, he, he!!!

Thank you Justine for everything!!! That day was so much fun for me! I love ALL my stuff...even the belly aches that came with each and every last bite of my cake...:-) He, he, he!

LOVE YOU!!!

Gabrielle University VS Alexis Technology

This was ABSOLUTELY priceless...Gabrielle and Alexis playing football! I had to giggle at the pictures I captured. I have many more but these totally replicate "highlights" of the game! Notice Gabby sporting a skirt! Ha, ha, ha! Alexis came over on her "four wheeler" (motorized toy) and Gabby invited her to play a game of football. They had more energy than that of 10 adults. It was fun watching them run around! They had it down. I don't know who ended up "winning" but it was certainly a joy to see them have fun and play!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME...and JAIME!!!

This was the scene at my mother's last Sunday! Although my birthday is today!

My mother got my sister and I Derk's Bently tickets! :-) Mom also got me a sweet jacket that is very stylish! My sister Kari sported me with a new outfit because she was so proud of the weight I have lost. She even surprised me with snow glob table markers for when I have company! YIPEEE! My sister, Laura gave me some cold-hard-cash that I put towards a new pair of A.K. shoes! THANKS SWEETIE! John & Nize got me a Staples gift card to pick up things for my business! I can't wait to use it! Gerry got me an MP3 player, flowers and took me out for dinner. He surprised me when the Oriental girls came out with fried bannanas to sing "happy birthday" to me. Then, I laughed even harder when I thought I was waving and smiling into the restaurant "security camera". Gerry looked at me and said, "What are you waiving at"? I said, "The security camera". Well, I didn't have my eyeglasses on but he told me that it was an electrical box!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I put on my glasses and sure enough, I had waved, winked and smiled at an electrical box. He didn't think it was as humorous as I did. I couldn't stop laughing at the sight of what I must have looked like doing that.

I also got a cookie basket from Sweet Sue's from Peter/Kristin, Forrest & Justine. Peter and Kristin also took me to lunch yesterday! THANKS GUYS! :-) My mother and my sister called and sang to me, along with my father-in-law, and little Miss Abby! I got phone calls from friends with birthday wishes....thank you all---it means a lot!

Jaime and I wished each other happy birthday! I giggle about it. It absolutely AMAZES me that I would meet someone, become good friends and then find out we were born on the same day! It was a friendship meant to be! :-)

Anyway, thank you to everyone for remembering me...even those that I had to call and sing, "Happy Birthday to me"...to. :-) I love and appreciate you all!

Overnight with Auntie Tonya!

Here's little Miss Gabby "earning her keep". She got dropped off while I was in the middle of cleaning my floors. I told her she could help me finish cleaning! :-) She was excited to see more than puzzles this time. She spent most of the weekend using the "cleaning" set that I picked up. She even cleaned the wood chips off the fire place!

So this marks in history, the first time that Miss Gabby has come anywhere near the FLOOR when Bailey is around. I was concerned that we would be shipping her back home once Bailey was back at the house. She's usually terrified, wanting to be held, won't eat etc. So this time, I put her down in front of him and she resisted at first. I told her that Bailey was VERY excited to see her and that she could expect him to sniff her so that he would know who she was and learn to protect her. I told her that he would wag his tail and smile to let her know he was happy to see her. I also told her that he smelled like a skunk because he thought he was chasing a kitty! She actually enjoyed him!! She kept saying, "C'mon Bailey, let's go throw rocks in the lake". He would run down beside us and chase the rocks in the water like they were treats. We had such a FANTASTIC time. We ended up having to get dressed for a party and she sat on the counter in the bathroom as I got ready and wanted to "look pretty". I gave her a little lipstick, some sparkles on her eyes and a little touch of blush on her cheeks. She was so excited about the lip stick and make up, that's all she talked about.

Little Miss Gabby, I love you with all my heart. You are SO smart, well mannered, beautiful and have such a wonderful spirit. Auntie loved watching Elmo and snuggling, playing in the woods....looking for twigs and playing in the lake! I also loved the books you read to me...especially Curious George. I look forward to many more visits and watching you grow up to be a beautiful woman and someone that makes a difference in the world.

P.S. Thank you for helping me clean and bringing squash in from the garden! :-)