Party Weekend

Its melting!! OMIGOSH the snow is actually melting today. The forecast calls for temps in the 30's for most of the week! That means 5 days of melting in a row! WoW what a wonderful feeling to step outside, feel the warm sun and take a deep breath without your nostrils freezing shut. Its been long coming, and I hope its here to stay.
Last night Brad commented on how with this kind of forecast the locals will become obivilous to the 5 feet of snow as you'll see them driving with their windows down, walking the streets without jackets and college students will be sporting shorts and flip flops. Sure enough, on my way home for lunch today, I saw neighbors outside with their jackets either unzipped or completely absent. I then pulled up along side a guy with his window down and the tunes cranked. Funny what a little sunshine will do to a person. But I guess after 5 months of freezing temps who can blame you for getting a little over excited about the 30 degree weather.

On Saturday we (Dad and kids) threw a surprise 50th birthday party for my MOM, back home in Erksine. She knew we were coming home to take her out for an early birthday dinner, because we didn't want to miss it in all the chaos of the baby coming just shortly before her March 30th. However she didn't know that we had dinner arrangements at the supper club and had invited other family and friends. There were about 40 guests that helped us surprise her and honor her big birthday. I was a little nervous about getting my mom there, because of a dumb 2" snowfall throughout the day she suggested we just go for a burger at the bar in town. Plus she wasn't feeling well from a migraine that made her sick that afternoon. I wasn't so sure we were going to be able to pull it off without spoiling the surprise, but she came a around and we were able to get her out the door just in time.

Oh but to start the weekend... I thought Dylan and Riley were going to blow it. (Keep in mind we told them little to nothing about this party, because I know they can't keep secrets at all!) As we sat at the supper table on Friday night, D & R are talking with grandma about her birthday and proceed to tell her that we got her balloons, cake and black flowers. ??? Where did they get this??? Thankfully I'm quick on my feet and was able to pull together a believeable story, that yeah we did bring some left over balloons and party hats from their birthday, along with cake mix and frosting to make her a cake on the weekend. And I turned the flower part into my idea of what we should decorate her cake with. Those little stinkers- they weren't even with me when I bought this stuff!! They must have discovered it at home, and or noticed it as we were packing the car. Thankfully 3 yrs still can't be accountable as the most reliable source of information and are known to get their wires crossed at times, so I was able to cover up their (100% accurate) tellings. But of course it couldn't just end there, as my mother continued to beat this birthday thing to death- couldn't she find something else to talk about??!!?!? After several attempts to change the subject I was finally successful and supper ended without any other info leaking out. A funny bit to mention from this discussion though, was when Riley asked Grandma how old she was going to be, and when she said 50 Riley replied "Ohhh, thats so long." :-)

To honor my mom at her party, I had put together a Timeline, highlighting some significant events through her first 50 yrs. Having not been around or able to recall much from the first 30 yrs I was lacking in that area, but felt it came together fairly well in the end. However the hightlight of the evening was the cute and comical poem "Ode to Michelle" that my dad wrote for her and read at the party. If you know my dad you know he's not one of many words, and isn't the sappy type at all, but this poem was just perfect. It was cute, humorous and totally his touch. Its rare to see this side of my dad, but so neat.

With all the events leading up this big party, I certainly over did myself, and was paying for it by the party's end. The 90 mile car ride to Erskine Friday, cleaning out my closet (and brothers) at my parents all day saturday, then decorating that afternoon, along with the party socializing really wipped me out. I was actually questioning if I was going into labor, because the pains and contractions were so intense and uncomfortable. But after we got back to my parents and I was able to stretch out and rest things started to settle down. Which at that moment was a good thing, because with the snowy weather and slippery roads, a speedy trip back to Fargo at 10pm would have been questionable. And I would not want to have this baby anywhere else. I think Fosston (nearest hospital to Erksine) has 1 delivery every other month? Eeeks!! But like I said the action calmmed and passed, but not without a good reminder to STOP- slow down and take it easy. I've got just this last week left, and no reason to push it. I need to conserve this energy and keep a healthy stress free environment for the little man too, so we can both deliver a peak performance come his birthday.