birthday bounty

this week has bee JAM PACKED with so many wonderful things. seriously, I've had Birthday Week. which is a really lovely thing, because I'll be honest... I don't really have high expectations of such things. years of being single do that to you.

the past four days were actually such a blur that I feel I must consult my planner to remind myself of where I've been:

5 VO sessions
7 clients served
1 audition
1.5 yoga tapes
2 episodes of anime timecoded and written
client billing
studio fees added up and hashed out
garage sale advertised
garage sale prepped for
laundry attacked
house picked up - twice

something most folks don't get to say.. on my thirty-sixth birthday, I voiced a butterfly, a sultry-ish pen, and a rapping mouse. range, people.

I worked hard, but I built in good play time, too. which made the work-time more intense, but I've really tried to guard my fun, people time this week and not let it get trampled by obligations. here's the fun time in photoz, starting with the yummy dinner my husband made for me Monday night to ring in birthday week:



that asparagus was SO GOOD I asked him to make some more.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm to the maxx.

Tuesday, we met the Bells at Michaelangelo's for birthday dinner (blackened tilapia with crabmeat and mushrooms, flipping awesome):



where I was given this precious, sweet gift:



I was a voracious reader when I was young and enjoyed a lot of series, but this one has always held a special place in my imagination. I was fascinated by these stories and can't wait to revisit them.

after dinner we initiated the Bells into the society of those who frequent The Chocolate Bar:



my father-in-law is totally grooving to the jazz players over in the corner. I embraced the fear and chose the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake, with real chocolate buttercream frosting and cocoa.



your eyes do not deceive you... the cake slice is as big as my head. even though I shared with everyone, I still took home a chunk of cake. delectable.

on my actual birthday, a day most chock-filled with activity, work, and sitting in traffic, I got to go hang out at church and have precious mental/heart health time... see friends, breathe, knit and get fun knitting accoutrement from my mentor, Mrs. McD, and accept this too-cute cherry serving set and towel from my B2 :



then M took me home and made one of my favorite meals...
eggs benedict, baby.
(if you check out the eggs, you'll note that they look different, because he is perfecting the process and trying different methods of egg cookery. because he's an explorer that way.)




eggs benedict seriously makes me turn into Homer Simpson drooling down his shirt.... aaaaaaaaaaaggghhhhhhhhgggggghhhh, baconyeggyhollandaise...

my husband also got me a really wonderful, luxurious gift:



um, don't mind that jar of bacon grease in the background there... ha! M thinks the mixer looks like the creature in Alien, so we've named her Mother. :) everyone who owns one raves about it, and our imaginations are already wild with all of the things we'll make with this contraption. we do love to cook, so if you haven't been over in awhile for dinner give us a call so we can put this baby to work, because I didn't rearrange our kitchen to make room for her to NOT mix it up!

in short, I'm fairly spoiled, which is evidenced by this post. I haven't even mentioned the sweet cards I received that made me feel so special, and all of the birthday shout-outs on facebook were honestly overwhelming. I'm so very grateful. I know Who every good gift comes from, and sometimes I'm still amazed at the blessing poured out on me, in ways that blow my mind and make me cry.

and now I must go for the icing on the cake of my week, the reason I worked so hard to get all of the laborious things done by this morning - my mom and dad are in town for the rodeo, and after brunching with friends I'm picking up Mom and we're going to hang out with L. Bell, to just be girls and stuff, and tonight I'm hoping to dine with more family. and if I sign off right now, I still have time to run the vacuum.

I multitask.
I productive.
I crazy?
I love.
I make.
I thirty-six!

-m.y.