It’s the fourth Monday of the month which means its time to share our Perfect Moments from February with Lori from Write Mind Open Heart.
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Saturday evening we celebrated my birthday early with my side of the family by going out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. We went at 4:30 p.m. because our two-year old daughter Abby and our niece who is close in age both go to bed early. There were eleven of us total and we were pleasantly surprised, after we checked in at the restaurant, to be seated in our own private room. It was so cool! We had a large round table, which made it easy to see and hear each other throughout our meal as we enjoyed delicious food and great conversation.
My mom and I split a flight of four red wines. We are both “light weights” when it comes to drinking, but enjoy sampling different kinds of wine. So we appreciate when servers are willing to accommodate us. I ordered one of the night’s dinner specials, a Trio of Filet Medallions each with a different topping. The three toppings I chose were Twice Baked Potato, Cheddar and Parmesan, all of which were very good. I had a side Caesar Salad and a side of their signature White Cheddar Au Gratin Potatoes, which were also yummy. For dessert my mom had made and decorated my favorite kind of cake (yellow with chocolate icing). The restaurant was also very accommodating with this, as they allowed us to bring it, put the candles on for me and then after my family sang to me and I blew out the candles, our server took the cake back to the kitchen, cut it and then served it to us.
One of the highlights of our family dinner on Saturday, besides the wonderful food and drink, was our conversation. Years ago I read in a magazine that a fun and interesting discussion for guests at a birthday meal is to ask those at the table who are older than the person being celebrated to share what they remember about their life when they were the age that the birthday girl or boy is turning. Since I will be 37 on March 6th, my parents, sister, brother-in-law and his parents (who were in town visiting and joined us for dinner) all shared their memories of what was happening in their lives at age 37. It was fascinating to hear what they each had to share, including where they lived, what jobs they were working in, how old their children were and other tidbits from their late 30’s.
We had a lovely time at dinner and though our children got a bit antsy, which is typical when we go out to eat, the private dining room helped a lot to allow them to get up and move around (without bothering strangers at other tables). I received some very thoughtful and generous gifts from my family (including A Book of Blessings that my parents chose for me in honor of my new blog) and I relished in the time we had together that night.
I forgot my camera, which is unusual, but in some ways it helped me to relax and enjoy the many perfect moments I experienced with my family even more on Saturday night. We were able to snap a few good shots with my dad’s phone, including this one of Bob, Sean, Abby and me, so that was an added bonus to my already awesome early birthday celebration with my family.
As my family did at our dinner on Saturday, if you are older than my almost 37 years, I would love for you to share in the comment section here something about where you were in your life and/or what you were up to when you were my age. If you are younger, feel free to share where you hope to be and/or what you would like to be doing when you are 37. Thank you!
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Lori from Write Mind Open Heart says that “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.” I love the idea of being mindful of and blogging about perfect moments. Over the years I have often used my blog more to write about things I am struggling with and though I know that is valid and important for me at times, I appreciate the idea of being intentional about also sharing the simple and very special moments in our lives. Many thanks to Lori for this wonderful opportunity to focus on what is right in our life, instead of what is wrong.
Click here to read about and comment on more Perfect Moments (there are links to others’ posts at the bottom of Lori’s blog entry) and/or add a link to one of your own.
Thank you for reading. I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you are aware of, as well as able to notice, many perfect moments in your own lives.
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I am officially launching my new blog here at Bereaved and Blessed this Wednesday, February 29th — Leap Day!
In the meantime, please feel free to take a look around, check things out, subscribe to my new RSS feed/add it to your readers, sign up to receive updates via email when I share new blog entries (look for this option on the sidebar), “like” my new Bereaved and Blessed Facebook page and let me know what you think.
I hope to continue to *see* you in the days, weeks and years to come here at Bereaved and Blessed.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Belated Birthday! Sounds like a perfect way to celebrate with wonderful company.
Lori recently posted..Perfect Moment Monday: Sibling Bonding
Happy early bithday! You’ve got me salivating with you dinner description.
This is a wonderful prompt. When I was 37 my husband and I had returned from living in the middle east and were trying to figure out how (or whether) to build our family. I was probably about to start researching adoption agencies.
So excited for the big unveiling!
Lori Lavender Luz recently posted..Perfect Moment Monday: On the piano bench
Dinner out with family and friends and for your Birthday too! Perfect Moment! 🙂
When I was 37, we were in the midst of fertility treatments that ended up becoming my daughter.
Happy early birthday! What a wonderful celebration you had! When I was 37 (which was just a year ago) I had just lost my mom, we tried for baby #2 with IVF #2 which failed but FET #1 three months later was a success, so the second half of that year I was happily pregnant.
lostintranslation recently posted..Limerick Chick Contest
I got a really warm and fuzzy feeling reading this. I think you and I are quite similar: I would love to have this kind of birthday celebration. The food also sounded like exactly what I would order too. We must meet one day!!
I am so glad you got to enjoy such a wonderful celebration. This really made me smile.
Jjiraffe recently posted..My Blog Disappeared and I Almost Lost My Mind
Also, when I was 37, on this very day in fact, I had my last miscarriage. On a positive note, we bought our house which I love.
Jjiraffe recently posted..My Blog Disappeared and I Almost Lost My Mind
Happy birthday! Your description of what you had to eat made me hungry, even though it hasn’t been that long since dinner, lol.
I turned 37 in January 2008. That week, I went to Hamilton, Ontario, with my girlfriend & her 11-year-old daughter for a few days for the Canadian national figure skating championships. It was just before the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, & we saw some AWESOME skating.
Within two months,. I was pregnant with Katie.
loribeth recently posted..Elegy
Happy Birthday Kathy…
Well when I turned 37 in Oct/2010, I was 7 months pregnant with my Miracle baby. So I spent that year figuring out how to be a mom and care for this new little boy in my life. He was conceived via IVF so I felt as I did not bond with him the way I thought I should have. I think mainly because I was afraid of loss and also in disbelief. I had a very good pregnancy, no sickness, only gained 22 pounds, not many aches or pains until the very last month or so. I felt pretty great. I was high risk because of my weight so they monitored me pretty close. I was tested a few times for the gestational diabetes and did not develop that until the last few weeks of pregnancy. I did get a scheduled C-section because they were afraid he was getting too large and did not want him to get shoulder dystocia and me have to get an emergency section. So I went along with the doctors advice and it worked out well. No labor pains! The surgery went well and I was up walking and feeling pretty great the next day. My issue started after coming home from the hospital it hit me pretty hard and I had no idea what was going on. I fell into this depression that I could not even describe. I cried and just could not stop. My husband was afraid for me and reached out to a nurse at the hospital. Found out that I had post partum depression and had anxiety really bad. I felt worse because here I am who wanted this baby to love and now I can not stop crying and obsessing over him. I was so afraid of sids and thoughts that I may lose him and would constantly check on him and his breathing. I had guilt that I was not a good mom. I had racing thoughts I really thought I was going crazy. I soon found out that I was not alone. I went to a support group run by the nurse my husband got in contact with and they were a huge help. I was also put on depression medication which helped tremendously. It was months before I actually felt better about things. The guilt had bothered me though as I feel I should of and could have been a better mom. There was points I felt like I was a horrible mom and figured he would be better with someone else. I realize now I am the best mom for him and my famous line is no one would obsess over him like I do. I am so thankful to have had that support group, and a loving husband who sought out help when I was in a very dark place. I had some struggles but I am in a good place now and I feel great now…My son will be 15 months on Friday 3/9 and is as loving and happy as ever. Sorry for such a lengthy post but it was good to let go and talk about my 37th year!