Happy birthday to me!

Wednesday, September 13th was my birthday!  I turned FIFTY-FOUR!  I have that in all caps because, wow! That's old!  I know I've said it on here before but I still feel 21 in my mind but my body tells me 54 is that accurate number.  

I was off work on Wednesday and so was my brother.  He joined me on my errands and treated me to lunch at Yamas.  Yamas is a local restaurant that is very similar to Cava but I like it much better. 

My go to order is always the 1/2 grain (basmati rice) and 1/2 salad (mixed greens is what I usual go for) bowl.  For my protein I always chose the fig and chicken salad and then I top it with marinated chick peas, pickled red onions, picked red cabbage, feta, tzatziki, and Greek vinaigrette.  I also get a few of their fresh pita chips on the side.  PERFECTION!

When I got home, I was surprised to find a beautiful arrangement of flowers on the kitchen island. 

The card read "Happy Birthday Mom and Dad! Love, Peter and Sarah."  Seeing these flowers on the counter literally brought tears to my eyes.  I immediatley texted a picture to the family group chat and thanked both kids.  Then I separately thanked Sarah, because let's face it, she's the one that orchestrated the flowers.  And I love that she included Dan because he turned 57 on the 12th. 

On Wednesday evening was our regularly scheduled Cistas get together.  (The Cistas are my old MOPS group and we've been getting together monthly since 2012 after we stopped attending MOPS) We were actually celebrating Christy's 50th but the ladies also made me feel extra special on my boring 54th. 

 

I worked on Thursday and was greeted with a host of Happy Birthday wishes, cake, and presents!  I was not expecting that as I've only been working 5 weeks.  So that was such a nice surprise!

I got home from work on Friday evening and Peter came in right behind me.  I cooked Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner (one of Peter's favorite things I make) and then we headed to the Bishop Football game.  Y'all.  It was so bad.  We were playing the team that won the conference last year and it did not go well.  We left after the first quarter we were losing so bad.  But that's the nice thing about not having any current players or students.  You can leave without feeling guilty!  :)

When we got home we watched some Friday night college football and I went to bed early and left the boys to their games.  On Saturday, Peter and Dan did yard work and I did housework and Peter watched the NC State Football game.  

Then my sweet Sarah came home and we all went to Mass together.  After Mass we had dinner at Twisted Pine.  The Coal Pit (where I went with my friends on Wednesday) was hosting their final concert of the summer so we headed there.  We listened to Maiden Voyage - an Iron Maiden tribute band - for about an hour.  If you recall, Iron Maiden was Peter's very first concert. (Look how young and teenagery Peter looks in those pictures.) 

I made everyone take a selfie as we were leaving. I really appreciate the family for putting up with me. :)

A Guns and Roses Tribute band was playing after but we didn't stay.  I would have loved to see that but maybe next time.  We headed home and all hung out together.  Sarah did her nails, we watched more football, had some drinks, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.  Of course, the old lady had to go to bed but everyone was proud of me for staying up so late. :)

On Sunday we had our BirthAversery Lunch where we officially celebrated our anniversary and both of our birthdays.  The food was delicious and so was the beautiful cake my mom made. 

 But the best part of all was the FULL TABLE!!  I love it when we are all together. 

After lunch, Peter headed back to Raleigh and Dan and I went with Sarah to get new tires on her car.  Then she headed back to Charlotte and Dan and I watched the Patriots lose.   It's going to be a long season.  The Panthers play tonight so I'm hopeful that at least one of our professional teams will win in week 2.

Dan has a ton of vacation to use before the end of the year or he will lose it so he's taking today off.  We will be running errands and just hanging out together - which is my very favorite thing.  💕

Weekend update.

We had a nice little weekend but it included every single one of our football teams losing. 

Friday night we headed to Bishop McGuinness and saw them lose by one point.  On Saturday, Dan did yard while I did work work.  It was my first Saturday and boy was it busy in that store!  So many shoppers.  I can only imagine how busy it will be at Christmas.

While I was working, Peter attended the NC State Notre Dame game.  NC State was expected to lose as Notre Dame is in the top ten but one thing I love about Peter is that for him, hope springs eternal.  So, we were all hopeful, especially since it was a home game.  But alas, they lost after a two hour delay in the middle of the game for rain.

Peter texted us that when they evacuated the stadium, he and his friends had to run through a torrential downpour to some other friend's apartment where they waited out the delay while being drenched.  They finally made their way back into the stadium for the rest of the game. After the game, Peter posted this picture to his Instagram which had been featured on Barstoolpack's Instagram.  Can you find him?  

When we saw it, Dan said, "Of course, he's on his phone!"  Ha!  

NC State has a brand new giant jumbo tron screen and it got struck by lightening during the storm but luckily it appears to still be functional.

After I got home from work on Saturday, we went to Mass and oh, I forgot to mention, it was our 23rd wedding anniversary! Last week, I told the only thing I wanted to do for our anniversary was go to a rooftop bar downtown and have a drink.  Dan said that sounded like a good plan and we went on with our lives.

On Friday evening (day before our anniversary) Dan said that he made plans on Saturday for us to meet a coworker and his wife for drinks downtown.  Whomp whomp.  He totally forgot that it was our anniversary and that we had made a plan.  Oh well.  The rooftop bar will still be downtown and we had a lovely evening with his coworker and his wife so it was still a nice evening.

And meanwhile, UNC Charlotte, who had started off strong against Maryland, proceeded to lose their game as well. And then Sunday brought a Panthers loss and a Patriots loss and that rounded out our weekend of no wins in football!

On Sunday, Dan, Mom, and I, headed to Raleigh bright and early to take Peter to lunch.He wanted to make sure we were finished with lunch by 1:00 so he could watch the Panthers game.  We hadn't seen him in weeks and were missing him.  (I think he was missing us, too.) And Mom and Dan had not seen his new room yet and neither had eaten at the restaurant where Peter works. It was good to see my boy and get to hug his neck and talk with him in person!

Here is a picture of us on a bridge with the best view of the city in the background.

And that was our weekend!

What we've been doing and a link to "how I met my husband"....

This is my fourth week of work and so far so good!  The women I work with are all very friendly and outgoing and don't mind showing me how to do something three four five times.  The atmosphere is very laid-back which I appreciate and everyone seems to work well together.

I think the plan for me is to learn how to do several different things.  They are teaching me the inventory check-in process and how to get the merchandise ready for the sales floor.  They are teaching me how to work the sales floor (cash register, where everything is, how to best help the customers,etc), and they are teaching me how to update their website with new merchandise.  I think this is what I will be focusing on a little more each week as the person that currently does this is pregnant and will go out on maternity leave some time at the end of November. The plan is for me to take over her duties while she is gone.

Each day is different (which I like) and I'm learning new things each day (which I also like).  I just hope I don't become a "Jack of all trades, master of none." I feel like right now, I know just enough to be dangerous.  :)  But I'm sure I will feel more confident and (less dangerous) as the weeks continue to pass.

The kids seem to be enjoying their classes and are settling in to the new school year pretty well.  Peter and his fraternity just made it through Rush and I think he's glad it's over.  The first couple of weeks of the school year in a fraternity/sorority can be pretty exhausting. Also it's been HOT in Raleigh and his attic bedroom is definitely not the coolest. 

Sarah just got a new job on campus and is currently filling out paperwork and meeting with HR so she can become an official campus employee and then start her training.  The job title is Student Philanthropy Representative and I think she and the rest of the people they hired will be soliciting funds from alumnae to support programs for scholarships and academics.  

She's excited because this is currently what she's thinking of as a career. She's a communications major but is very interested in philanthropy (raising money) so this should look good on her resume and help her to see if this is something she is truly interested in.  We can thank her time working on the LLS Student of the Year campaign for her interest in philanthropy.  You never know where each thing you do in life might lead you!

We didn't do much for Labor Day weekend.  Peter stayed at school because they had a full weekend of Rush activities but Sarah came home.  She had a doctor's appointment Friday afternoon and split her time hanging out with us and hanging out with Joe.

They both joined us for Mass on Saturday evening and then we went to dinner at Twisted Pine.  It's always nice spending time with them and getting to know Joe better.  He's a big sports football and baseball fan so he and Dan have a lot to talk about. :) 

Two weeks ago, Dan and I went to Bishop McGuinness to see the home opener football game.  They won!  It was great!  We have a new coach.  He recently retired from the public schools and has coached much bigger programs so we have high hopes for the season.  If the weather holds out, we are planning on going tomorrow night too.  It's fun to be at the games but also a little weird since our kids don't go there any longer.  There are still some familiar faces in the stands so we aren't too out of place.  It's honestly just nice to go and watch a game and feel like the boys actually have a chance to win.  We didn't get that experience when Peter played.  And fun fact, the new coach actually went to my high school and was in my brother's graduating class.  

I'm sure by now you have all heard that Jimmy Buffet died.   We spent the rest of the weekend playing his music.  That felt like a great way to remember him.  Peter sent us this picture...

One of his friends made a big batch of margaritas using his dad's recipe and they were listening to his music all day too.  

I know I've told you guys the story of Dan and I meeting at a Jimmy Buffet concert once before but  here's the link in case you want to read about it. (It's short.). That link is from a post I wrote in 2007 when we were celebrating out SEVENTH wedding anniversary and now in two days we will be celebrating our TWENTY-THIRD.  My how time does fly!

And with that update, I need to go and get ready for work!