Sandi has a 3 week break from her advanced anesthesia course in Portland (study for which has comprised her weekend hours) and so for my birthday weekend she spent three entire days with us. Holy moly I felt like a new woman.
She said she was sorry she hadn't planned well for my birthday regarding cards and gifts and the girls. I told her I only wanted one thing and that was her- uninterrupted time with her.
We spent the weekend at camp for Suzapalooza and then came home Sunday night and together tackled the mountain of unpacking and cleaning up. As I watched Sandi sit at the table picking out the 5 lobsters her mom had sent home with us, I was overcome with sheer joy at her assistance. I truly did not remember what it was like to have help. This summer whenever she has been able to carve out time for fun, she can never help on either end. Usually as soon as we get home she has to go to the hospital for her next day's assignments and start working on anesthesia plans for her patients.
Sandi turned to me as she finished cutting watermelon for the next day's picnic and said, "What else can I do?" I swear it was the hottest thing she's said to me in quite some time.
I woke up early the next morning (my actual birthday) and rode 36 miles for my 36th birthday. Actually it was 37 miles, but I'm still only 36. Then I came home for a warm shower and the table beautifully set with fresh bagels, fruit and scrambled eggs. I got some awesome homemade gifts and a card from the girls.
I told them there was one thing I really, really wanted on my birthday and that was to have them get along. No fighting. Maya said okay. Ella shrugged and said she would try, but she sounded doubtful. Thirty minutes later they were in the car ready to head to the beach and Maya pinched Ella (for reasons that are still unclear) and Ella laid her out against the console, causing a sizeable egg to form on her head.
I guess it was too much to ask.
We headed for Sand Beach in Acadia National Park for a day at the beach with the girls:
And, of course, these guys:
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| airborn |
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| lounging in the lagoon |
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| Leah and Lindsay |
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| The only picture of the fast moving Skyler we managed to get |
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| I'm pretty sure this is the moment when Beckett realized Sandi was taking him in the opposite direction of his mother |
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| fishing |
We left the beach in favor of homemade ice cream at Ben and Bill's in downtown Bar Harbor and some school shopping on the way home. Maya tried on sneakers that she declined to purchase because they weren't fast enough for her and Ella asked me why I was looking for a new pair of sunglasses for myself when we were supposed to be school shopping for her. Yeah, this isn't like the birthdays of old paddling in a kayak alongside Sandi till the dark drove us home, but we will take it. Indian take-out for supper and a few more hours to forget the intrusion of school in our lives and my birthday was complete.
I'm pretty sure that I'm proud to be 36 if being so means that I have this amazing life. I didn't have any of this when I was 26 (although I had less wrinkles and got more sleep) and I wouldn't trade not a single stitch of it.
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