Seven Wonders

Then there was one. A couple of days ago, on the 27th, I celebrated my 29th birthday. Only one more year in my twenties. Wow! As usual, my wonderful husband spoiled and surprised me. He loves surprising me; I just have to make it clear that there are some surprises I would not enjoy, which would make for a very unhappy birthday. Fortunately, this surprise was welcome.


After he came home from school, he gave me my first clue and said we were going to see the seven wonders of downtown Houston (according to Josh, of course). After we reached each destination, he gave me another clue and a gift. We ended up seeing some pretty interesting places downtown that I would probably not have seen otherwise. Wonder #1--an art waterfall exhibit. Wonder #2--the underground tunnels that lead to a whole bunch of shops, etc. Wonder #3--an amazing view from supposedly the 2nd tallest building in the U.S. Wonder #4--a beautiful park. Wonder #5--an interactive art bubble, which we actually never found because in typical Houston fashion it started pouring all of a sudden, and we had to take cover. Wonder #6--actually called the seven wonders, they are seven tall artistic pillars. Wonder #7--this was actually a sweet card and a kiss. Unexpected Wonder #8--a parking ticket. We didn't see the very high sign that said there was no parking between 4-6 pm.







At home, Josh surprised me with another gift--a food processor. We've been wanting to make our own baby food, so this is perfect. Plus, I hate cutting vegetables, so I hope this will save me some time preparing meals. Here's a link to what it looks like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magimix-4200-food-processor-white/dp/B000BWH8P2


We had a yummy cinnamon streusel cake. If you like them, you should try this one: http://www.mccormick.com/recipedetail.cfm?id=12545 The only problem was that we couldn't put candles on the cake because of the crunchy streusel layer on the top, so Josh held some (not 29) lighted candles while I blew them out.

Thanks to everyone on both sides of my family for the phone calls, cards, and gifts! Even Eli tried to give me one of the gifts I wanted the most--an uninterrupted night's sleep. He didn't quite make it, but he did very well that night. The problem is that I've been sick with a cold for the last couple of days, and I've been waking up around 3:30/4:00 every morning with congestion, and I've been unable to get back to sleep. What irony! Even more ironic is the fact that school started this week, and I'm not teaching, but I'm still sick. I guess I can't blame it on my students this time.

I am learning what it is truly like to be a mommy--there are no sick days! Eli has been very good, however. Either he isn't feeling well himself, which is a definite possibility, or he sympathizes with his mom. In any case, he has been trying to let me rest. For example, he woke up this morning at about 7:00, which is usual. I was feeling horrible and wanted to keep sleeping, of course, but I got up and bathed Eli. I started to play with him as usual, but he quickly went back to sleep and gave his mommy two and a half more hours of sleep. I was very grateful, and I'm hoping that it wasn't because he's coming down with what I've got.