Life Begins at Thirty

I started writing this post, a few weeks ago around my birthday but didn't finish it.  Thus, it is a little late!!

It is hard for me to believe that I'm 30 years old!  I had a surprise dinner party at Europa.  It was so much fun!  I thought that I was just meeting Mom, but every 10-15 minutes another one of my friends showed up.  It was such a wonderful fun night!  Thank you everyone for joining me.

I have decided in the last few weeks since turning 30 that I already like my 30s more than my 20s.  I'm more confident, happier and just have a stronger sense of self.  My 20s were great, but I think that life is looking great and that my 30s will be even better!!

Mothers' Day 2012

I hope Mom had a great Mother's Day because I sure did! We started out at 8:30 Mass. There were tons of little ones sitting around us and they were all so well behaved! I was so impressed!

Next we met up with Aunt Molly and Uncle Albert for brunch.  I was given the job of getting reservations, but we didn't decide to go to brunch until about 3:00 pm on Saturday.  Obviously, trying to get reservations for Mother's Day Brunch for 5 the afternoon before wasn't the easiest way to go about this.  I called all over town and finally decided to call Clinkerdagger: they had one table for five available at 9:45am.  I was so excited because the time I was hoping for was 9:45am!  It was meant to be!!  They only do breakfast on special occasions at Clinkerdagger so we were super excited to try the menu.  I had the Breakfast Wellington, which was scrambled eggs, smoked ham and swiss cheese in a puff pastry with a smoked gouda sauce and brunch potatoes.  It was the best breakfast that I have ever had!  I wish I would have taken a picture of it because it was presented beautifully.  I can't say enough good things about it.  I think Clinkerdagger is one of my favorite resturants...anywhere I have lived!

Mom and I waiting for our yummy coffee!!

After our super awesome lunch, we headed to the park to take a walk.  I took a few pictures of  Riverfront Park and the river.  I think they turned out well!!

Mom and Dad on one of the bridges.  I am going to have to get this picture printed and framed for my apartment!

We were tentatively planning on going to the Spokane Wine Association Mother's Day tasting; however, we ended up just going home and hanging out in the back yard because the weather as just so perfect.  I barbecued teriyaki turkey burgers for dinner with a fruit salad.  I hope Mom had a great day...I sure did!

Walk in the park

Mom and I had some time to spare so we decided to stop by Manito Park yesterday. It was such a beautiful day and we took a quick walk around the park. It's a little early in the season so not all of the flowers were flowering yet, but it still was beautiful yesterday. The Japanese gardens are looking better. I guess a couple years ago almost all the Koi fish died, because someone put their pet fish into the pond and it gave the Koi a fish disease. The large Koi are about as big as they were before the fish started dying off, but we couldn't really see any babies. I don't know if it was just too early in the season and they had not hatched yet. The lilac gardens were starting to bloom, but not fully in bloom yet. The rest of the park was filled with children and families. It was nice to see everyone out on such a beautiful day. Here are a few pictures of our quick walk:

A view of the wall near near the rose garden

Another picture of the wall near the rose garden

A close up of a blooming tree

In the beautiful Japanese Garden's

In the lilac gardens

BBQ

There is a reason why I am not in charge of lighting the barbecue. I'm a great cook and baker, but I'm not great at lighting the barbecue! See the picture below:

Sunday Funnies

Something happened a few weeks ago in church.  I am not sure if I can fully express how funny this was, but I'll try.  First, I have to go back a few more weeks in history and give you some background...

Mom and I attended a Novena (a nine day prayer service).  There was a feisty little old lady, who could barely walk using her walker, also attended the Novena with her daughter.  This feisty lady didn't like where her daughter chose to sit in church and she would glare at her daughter and move midway through the service.  She was rather mean to those around her and especially to her Daughter, who appears to have some health problems.  Every day, this feisty lady did something funny.  Mom and I have a history of getting a case of the giggles in Mass, so we tried our best to keep our cool.  However, one day we just couldn't.  She was sitting two rows in front of us and a very solemn  part of the mass she had a bout of flatulence--a very loud bout.  That was the kicker.  Mom and I were like junior-high-aged-girls!  We told Dad about this lady and how we felt badly for her because it must have been so embarrassing!

Well, a few weeks later, Mass was packed and I saw the usher coming up the aisle with an older lady with a walker:  it was the feisty old lady and her daughter.  Obviously, they sat right in front of us.  Before they even sat down, I whispered in Dad's ear, "That is the old lady from the Novena."  We both tried to keep straight faces.  We quickly noticed that this old lady is really  mean to her daughter--she is very elderly and frail and needs help from her daughter, but fights her all the way.  Anyway, Mass was moving along then Mom decided to pull the envelope for the collection out of her purse to pass it down the pew (she was in the center, then me, and Dad was on the end) and trouble ensued.

First, she pulled that envelope out of her purse like a fencer pulls a sword in a dual.  That alone was enough to make me start laughing, but that isn't everything.  A blue post-it note with Mom's grocery list flew in the air and spun down landing quietly and softly on the feisty old lady's shoulder.  My jaw was dropped.  By this point, Mom was hitting me with the envelope saying "What is the matter with you?  Will you take this?"  I decided it was best to act fast.  I was directly behind the feisty lady.  I tried to slowly move my hand, directly behind her so that I would be out of her peripheral vision, and grab the blue post-it note.  I don't know how she saw me because I didn't touch her (it was like playing the game operation as a child); but, she saw me.  She whipped her head around like a snake--I don't know how she moved so quickly!  I am almost certain that she tried to bite my hand as I moved it away from her.  I whispered an apology, but I doubt that she heard me.  By now, Mom finally figured out what was going on.  She was silent laughing out of control.  Her whole face was red.  I think Dad knew what was going on the whole time and he started silent laughing long before Mom did.  Both of them were laughing so hard that they almost fell out of the pew.  As usual, I was embarrassed and desperately trying to get them to stop laughing which made them laugh even harder.  I think Mom would have left, but she couldn't get out of the pew without making even more of a scene.

Finally, we got it together.  Then the family in front of us started laughing.  Thank Goodness it was someone else....for once.