Birthday Bliss

My birthday was on Black Friday, but the celebrations started Wednesday at work (since of course I took off on Friday). Several of my coworkers brought in food (yum, veggie pizza, chili cheese dip, and even chicken wings!), and my friend/coworker Marla took me to lunch at Applebees (love the shrimp & spinach salad there). While we were at lunch Birthday Elvis appeared on my office wall. I will have to take good care of him until I can pass him along for the next birthday in our building!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we took the trip up to Milwaukee to be with family. We haven't done that in a few years, so that was nice, and the weather cooperated. My sister Kelley, who has had all sorts of medical trouble this year, was able to leave the nursing home for a few hours to spend time with us. She wasn't able to eat, so I ate for her :) It was just great having her home, and she is convinced she will be home by Christmas.

Friday morning did not find us up at the crack of dawn to fight the crowds. Mike did some shopping of the online variety, and we met his mom for breakfast before heading back home. Once we returned home, I was kicked out of the house so Mike could take care of my birthday present. I went to the mall and picked up a Christmas present for my mom, and then went to the library to get a new book. Mike wasn't ready for me to come home yet, so I curled up in one of the chairs and read for an hour or so. I've always wanted to do that but never indulged, and it was very nice and relaxing. When I got the go-ahead, and I came home to find my present-a brand new laptop all set up and ready to go! All my bookmarks, files, even my desktop background were all there waiting for me. This was the coolest present ever :) We ended the evening with dinner at Shanghai 1938 and back home where we opened up a bottle of wine. All in all, it was a fantastic birthday!