Feeling Loved

David gave me one of the best birthday presents I could ask for. And he kept it a surprise too! I’m so proud of him for keeping a secret from me for almost a month! He planned a slumber party for me. No boys. No babies. Just my girlfriends. Awesome!!

Part of why it was such a surprise was that it was a whole month early from my actual birthday. But he was thinking ahead and we both agree that I don’t know what I’ll really be up in the following month after the baby’s born.

Honestly, Friday morning was a grumpy start for me as I was awake at 6am and didn’t get back to sleep again since I was head-achy and hungry. But then David told me he got the day off, and I was instantly happy. He had to give me hints that something else was up his sleeve since I was trying to plan out dropping Kadie off with my mom like we had arranged earlier. He gave me until lunch time to guess what was up.

It wasn’t a person, place or thing, so I narrowed down to an event. The first word started with an “s” and ended with an “r”. I have to admit, I was a bit slow in the brain to figure it out. “Super party….soccer party…sucker party…” Meanwhile David was taking care of Kadie, cleaning bathrooms and dishes. Finally, before we left for lunch at New Seasons… “slumber party!” I was SOOOO excited! What a good man I have!

David headed up to my folks’ with Kadie to stay the night there. I tried to take a nap but was too excited to sleep. The gals started trickling in after 4:30 pm. It so happened to be down pouring rain that day, and traffic was even more horrendous than usual for a Friday. But each of my friends had a big smile on their face when they showed up at my door. Probably very relieved to be out of their car after sitting for an hour and a half or more.

We ate Burgerville, played scrabble, roasted marshmallows on my gas stove for s’mores, ate fresh picked strawberries and coconut ice cream, caught up with each other, shared hilarious stories, ate more snacks like popcorn, sausage, crackers, cheese, all kinds of fresh fruit, we played Operation, and talked and talked and laughed some more. Good times!

Some of the highlights for me were the excellent food, having some of my friends meet each other for the first time, and the nice gifts given to me (tomato plants, a cute ceramic sign saying “There’s always a reason to dance”, a humming bird feeder, a cook book on cd, and a gorgeous planter pot of flowers).

Our conversations ranged from our families (especially Jessica’s life full of kids and everyone else’s kids), to our jobs (like Tiffany’s young obsession with making Lego floor plans to now being an architect), to how my friends and I met (through dance, church, being cousins, through Jack – aka the Kevin Bacon of Portland), to crazy things that have happened while asleep, or of people hanging out of moving cars.

I have to say that Tiffany’s sleep story is the best I’ve heard in a while. I’ve experienced waking up scared at the stranger’s hand in my bed which turned out to be my own that had fallen asleep. But Tiffany’s friend trumps all—her friend woke up with a hand on her face over her forehead and eye on one side. She started freaking out, got up, and screamed through the house because the hand was still on her, and her family was in hysterics because her arm was wrapped around the back of her head and plastered to the other side of her face, asleep.

I loved Jessica’s story of getting in the car but her mom started driving off before she got in. Cindy actually ran over Jessica’s foot and leg (which miraculously didn’t break!), and when Jess shouted about it, Cindy said, “Well, get in faster!”

Only three gals ended up staying the night with me, and we made it till 1am before I headed upstairs to my own bed and bathroom as I make several trips throughout the night these days. In the morning, we ate waffles, and Leah and Thuy headed off to work while Tiffany and I enjoyed some YouTube clips of the Muppets Swedish Chef before she left. What a great party! I’ll remember this event for a long time because I feel so very loved by the dearest friends and an amazing husband who set it all up.