Halfway up that Hill

I've made it halfway up that great age hill, and the climb's been pretty grand!  Birthdays have always been good for getting mail and eating whatever I want, and this year did not disappoint.  In fact, there was so much more to it than that this year...

The big day was on a weekday, so off to work I went.  At noon, Marie and Beth showed up to kidnap me for lunch at the Breakfast Club - best place in town for breakfast even at lunchtime!  I was hoping to spend time with them the coming weekend using the birthday as an excuse, but they told me they weren't available.  Bummer there!

After work, Andy obliged my wish to go strolling in the arboretum to enjoy some of the beautiful day before it was gone.

They've just put in a new pergola, and the forsythia was blooming...'twas a lovely scene.

One of the willow trees was budding out like some spectacular underwater creature.

And, a local veteran was out flying his 3/4 scale replica of a WWI (or WWII?) airplane!  It was really amazing to watch.  When he went to turn around, the plane would actually hover in one spot and the engine got really quiet while he spun on a dime, in slow motion.

After we'd walked up an appetite, we went out for sushi at the Thai House.  It's so nice to be able to get this wonderfully fresh and artful food in our city....I love the stuff!  The owner of the restaurant was our sushi chef, and Andy enjoyed talking business with her.  They're thinking of opening another sushi place in Lewiston since there isn't anyplace to eat it there.  Not a bad idea!

Back home, I opened birthday cards, and found this wonderful surprise in the one from Andy:

I've been a big fan of Jon Schmidt for more than 6 years now - listening to his CDs or trying to play out of his piano books - and this was my first chance to see him in concert (that next Monday).  Sooo exciting!

In lieu of birthday cake, I requested a huckleberry milkshake.  Andy knows how to make it best!

 Besides looking forward to the Monday concert, I figured the birthday treatment was over 'til the next time.  But, when we arrived home from work on Friday, there was a covered dutch oven waiting by the back door!  Inside was this beautifully golden cake:

Andy told me the good stuff was on the bottom, so I flipped it over, and he was right!  Dutch oven pineapple upside-down cake - one my favorites!  Marc, car club buddy, remembered this from a conversation we had months ago, so he baked it for me and delivered it!  That was one delicious surprise...

Now it was time to plan a weekend full of yardwork!  The forecast predicted perfect weather for that on Saturday, so we headed right into town that morning with a list of things to price and/or buy to get our garden up to par and figure out a plan for our unruly flower bed.  When we pulled off the highway, coming back home, we met up with Nick and Jennifer heading out!  I guessed they'd been up in the area and decided to stop by before heading home, so was glad we got home just in time to not miss them!  We pulled in the driveway, and my friend Monika had just pulled up too.  I was blown away that we were so popular to visit this beautiful Saturday.  Monika said she wanted to see my garden since she'd only been to our house in the dark before, so I took her out back and showed off the empty beds and raspberries.  Andy said I needed to show her the house too, and I explained to him that she'd already seen it except the new paint colors in the living room.  So we walked back toward the house, and right as I got near the porch, I caught a flash of red fur in the sliding glass door!  I said..."Wait a second!" and ran the rest of the way to the house.  Suzie had come to visit too, I realized!  This would be perfect.  Beth had told me she couldn't come help with yardwork, but I'd invited my friend Katie to come out and play in the dirt and she'd told me on the phone a few minutes ago that she'd come out today.  Now Suzie and Katie could help!

So, I burst through the back door and into the kitchen, and imagine my surprise when I'm greeted with a whole chorus of voices, "Happy Birthday! Surprise!!"

Not only was Suzie there, but Nick and Jennifer had snuck inside and Katie was already there with her husband Roman, and our dear friend Morgan was all smiles, and the little stinker Beth had made it too!  While Andy had me out of the house, buying manure and such, the clan had been cooking up a fabulous springtime lunch for us!

Andy fired up the grill to add to the feast.

We shared stories of how this whole thing came together - How I'd mentioned wanting to do something with friends this year, but gave up the idea when my sisters weren't going to be around and Andy didn't act too excited about wasting a good yardwork day on a party.  In reality, Susan and Beth had helped him plan it while I was in Arizona!  Then, Andy told about how he'd accidentally locked the door when we left, out of habit, and was freaking out that they'd all be on the back deck waiting for us to come back since our hidden spare key had gone missing a year before.  Beth was surprised to hear this, since she found the key right where it always was!  The other guests laughed about thinking there was no party because the first ones to arrive hid their cars down at the post office, and Andy confessed that all those poddy breaks at the hardware store were so he could answer calls and texts from confused guests - not because he wasn't feeling well!

Gotta love a good surprise!!

When the barbeque had wrapped up and most of the guests had left, we decided to take advantage of the good day and still do some yardwork!  Suzie, Beth, Katie and Roman were the troopers who stayed to tackle our landscaping project with us.

The flower bed along the shop has always been a bit of an eyesore.  Since we didn't plant it to begin with, we don't know what's coming up until it's a few inches tall - so weeds and flowers alike get a fair chance to take over.  And, the weeds have been winning!  Also, the soil is built up in a way that drains water toward the shop - not a great idea.  So, the big task was to dig out all the plants I'd flagged as keepers,

dig out all the other random weeds/plants to dispose,

 and shovel out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of spare soil to regrade the bed.

All the extra soil was dumped in the corn patch area of the garden to build that up.  Skipping ahead to the next day, Andy, Susan, and I worked to reshape the bed for the new look we're going for.  That involved filling the truck to the limit with sod! 

Then, we laid weed fabric and replanted the keepers.  And, after all the rainfall that night, we had a second pond!  Yippee...

Rewinding again...after the yardworking party, we were all hungry again.  So, we ate leftovers and broke out the birthday cake Chef Suzie made.

Angel food cake with a strawberry cream filling and pure chocolate icing.  Scrumptious!

Susan and Beth stayed for a sleepover...

...and Chef Suzie was at it again the next morning, making all of us a delicious eggs benedict breakfast - homemade hollandaise and everything!  It is never a mistake to let her take over your kitchen :)

Needless to say, the weekend was a perfect extension of the birthday celebration, and it continued on for one more day!  After work on Monday, we hit the road for the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane.  The line out the door was a block long and we were at the tail end of it, but the theater is small enough that even a back seat isn't too bad. 

Jon started out with his version of Elvis's Can't Help Falling in Love, and then launched into his own compositions - managing to play all of Andy's favorites and most of mine in the next two hours.  He ended with a snippet of Billy Joel's Piano Man, inviting us to sing right along.  He's a great entertainer - keeping the crowd clapping and laughing, and singing their way back to their cars afterward.

What a way to celebrate a milestone birthday!