My sweet birthday

It was supposed to be an uneventful day. Work. Grade some #@% research papers. Go out for frozen yogurt with some friends tonight (Phil's on call). But today--my birthday-- has felt anything but blah, thanks to loving friends and family.

It all began last night when I got home from work. I walked in to a delicious onions-and-garlic smell and saw my sweet hubs standing at the stove. "What is this?" Phil had found one of my favorite recipes (will post later) for beef gyros, gone to the store to buy the ingredients, and had made them for me. Best. Husband. Ever.

But it gets better!

After dinner, he brought out a gift bag. Now, I'm pretty good at figuring out my gifts ahead of time, but I had no idea on this one. To my surprise, he had gone to Express and bought an outfit for me that was both cute and fit (see picture). Wow. I mean, I can't even find pants that fit for myself when I'm shopping, so the fact that he bought me pants that fit is a small miracle. I think I see a date night in the near future...

Today, I started my morning with a mocha frappe from McDonalds. Yes, I've taken up caffeine again. Headaches or not, it's the only way I'm going to make it through grading the research papers. AND, they're half the cost of a Starbucks frappuccino and taste like dessert at 6:50 in the morning. :)

At work, there were numerous renditions of happy birthday sung by off-key teenagers, a surprise batch of cookies brought to 3rd period by a student who shares my birthday, a surprise gift card to Panera from my co-workers, a lunch visit from my friend, Melissa (who brought me a huge slice of cake from Olexa's = delicious!), a surprise appearance by my sister-in-law, Ashley, who came bearing a dozen delicious cupcakes and precious handmade cards from my nephews, 75+ Facebook wishes, a few pieces of REAL mail (!), and more texts and voice mails than I usually receive in an entire week--or maybe two. Whew!

Suffice it to say, this girl feels VERY loved today. Thanks to all who spent any small part of your day making mine a happy one! Oh, and if you need a sugar fix, I have quite the stash now. :)