My Birthday!

I am now 27 years old. Getting up there in age. :)
Jed made my birthday SO FUN! Here is how the day went:

I thought Jed had to go to work at 2pm, so when a friend offered to babysit for us so we could go out to lunch, I thought that was a great idea! We went to a Mexican restaurant (delicious!) and then dropped by Home Depot and picked up a few things for Jed. It was so enjoyable being with Jed and just walking around leisurely. I told Jed as much and he said, "I guess that's what happens when you get old! You enjoy trips to Home Depot together!" I laughed and said, "No, it's what happens when you love someone. It doesn't matter what you're doing, it's fun to just be together." Maybe it was especially nice because we could just enjoy each other instead of racing after little kids and answering all of Benny's questions and chatter. :)

When we got home, I thought Jed had to go to work. Instead he said, "No, I don't have to work until 6pm." I was thrilled! I was thinking that my birthday was pretty well over since I would be alone with the kids the rest of the day. So this was fun news. Then he said, "And there was a shift change, and so I actually don't have to go in until 7pm tonight." Even better! If he has until 6:30 to be at home then that means we could have dinner together, and even a cake! (With Jed gone I was planning on doing leftovers or something.) So I whipped up an easy dinner and an easy cake while Jed organized and swept out the garage with the kids. (I love relaxed days like this when we are all working and getting things done while enjoying being together as a family.) At dinnertime we got to sing and open a few presents with Jed. Then he left for work and I put the kids to bed, fed Sam, and then started doing the dishes while talking to Brittany on the phone. As we chatted, I took the garbage out and tossed it into the garage. As I was closing the door again, I saw the garbage bag tilt and fall over. I opened the door again and walked into the garage to set the garbage upright. Suddenly I noticed something.... There was a blow up mattress on the floor of the garage with blankets laid out on top of it and pillows. Hmmm... that's strange... Then I noticed that the dryer we have in the garage had been placed just behind the blowup mattress, and there was a projector on it pointing at the garage wall in front of the mattress. Wait a minute...! Then I saw a movie next to the projector... AVATAR! I couldn't believe it! This was a date! This was Jed's preparations for a surprise for me! I was so excited! I told Brittany everything I saw, "Oh Jed is going to be so mad! I even saw the movie we are watching! Oh my goodness, how fun! I can't believe it! I'm going to have to call him tonight and confess that I saw it!- I'm horrible at pretending... Oh, he is so fun!" etc etc. I didn't go any further into the garage to investigate - I didn't necessarily want to discover his surprise; I only looked at it until I realized it was all a surprise for me and then I quickly looked away. :) I figured it was all set out for an evening date the following night, although I couldn't figure out why he would get it all ready a whole day early? Anyway, I was really excited on the phone to Brittany and she shared in my happiness just like the fun sister she is. After a few minutes, I heard a knock on the door. When I answered it, Jed was standing there!!! What?! I told Brittany that Jed was at the door and she laughed and said, "Okay - Have fun!" I gave Jed a hug and said, "You didn't have to go to work??!" and he shook his head with a funny look on his face. Then I said with a little smile, "Uhhh... I saw something..."
Then he started laughing and said, "Yeah! I know!"
"How did you know?"
"Because I was in the garage the whole time!"
"What?!"
"I was hiding behind the dryer the whole time you were talking to Brittany! I heard everything!"
I started laughing - he was hiding in there the entire time! How funny!
He told me that he had switched his shift to another day. After dinner he had driven off to pick up the projector. Then he had parked down the street and walked into the garage through the side door. He had been in there making all the preparations while I was in the kitchen. He had crouched behind the dryer in the dark and used a flashlight to set up the laptop & projector, just in case I opened the door. He said, "When you walked back in, I was especially hoping you wouldn't see me behind the dryer because I really didn't want to scare you!" (good point - I would have been freaked out if I had seen a shoulder or knee of someone crouching behind it - remember that I was all alone at home and I thought Jed was off at work!)
Anyway, we had a good laugh and then we went into the garage to enjoy our awesome date together! It was so fun! It was cute that he had bought Avatar for me because I had been telling him for weeks how excited I was to watch it again (we loved it when we saw it 3D in the theater). But recently he had started to say, "Nah, I don't want to see it again." Now I knew why he had been saying that! He was planning on doing this for my birthday! :)
Anyway, it was a very very fun birthday. Jed is the master of thinking of fun creative things to do for special occasions! I felt very loved by all his preparations and fun planning! I always love his surprises. :)