It was a pretty good birthday weekend. On Friday, I took Aidan out of school early so that we could go up to Science Museum Oklahoma. I hadn't taken the kids there together before, and I was surprised at how much fun we had and how much there was to do. If we end up living here for good, we'll definitely be getting a membership. Friday traffic made getting home a bitch, so I made the executive decision that we'd pick up Matt at home and then head immediately out to dinner. We have a local Mexican place there that, even though it's packed on the weekends, can be counted on to churn out good food very quickly. On Saturday, my actual birthday, we had to split up. Matt took Aidan to a bowling bday party in the morning while Evan and I went to an Attachment Parenting Intl. meeting and then out to lunch with the gang. We all met up at home for a bit, then Matt and Aidan headed out to a birthday party at the Y pool. I got some quality time on the phone with my best friend while I cooked soup for dinner. Matt went overboard with the cake and his gift. He bought a huge variety platter of cheesecake. It was just an obscene amount of cheesecake for only 4 people! He also got me the new Sex and the City complete series on DVD. My eyes definitely popped out of my head when I opened it. Way too extravagant! I will enjoy every second of watching it, though! Mom sent me Everyday Asian and Vintage Crochet. The in-laws sent a nice check, which will probably go straight to the bank. Gotta offset Matt's gift somehow, eh? :) On Sunday, we took the kids over to my friend Jean's house and we got to go out to a champagne brunch and then to see "Atonement." Wow, that movie was beautiful, suspenseful, and compelling. It was definitely a feast for the eyes, and I keep catching myself thinking about it. The kids had a great time at Jean's, and were suitably exhausted by the time we got home. We did some much-needed cleaning and had leftovers for dinner. Oh, and we had our mandatory Sunday night viewing of "America's Funniest Home Videos." After Aidan went to bed, Evan and I snuggled up on the couch to watch the first disc of "The Tudors". Matt had said earlier that he wanted to go to bed early, but he couldn't exactly walk away from a show like that. He was very helpful in looking up all of the various European royalty on Wikipedia for me, as I was struggling to piece together what I could barely remember about English history from my college days.
So, last year I made my list of 34 Things To Do Before I'm 34. Here's how I came out:
1. Call or quality email every old friend I can get in touch with. I didn't get in touch with "every" friend, but I did have some satisfying contact with a few friends.
2. Start beading jewelry again.
3. Lose 20 lbs. At one point, I had lost about 8-10 lbs, but I've gained some of it back since the holidays and partially weaning Evan. I feel and look better, though, so I'm happy with that. I had lost so much weight in the year before, and I thought losing 20 more lbs was a realistic goal.
4. Get my office organized. Sort of.
5. Have an entire day to putter around Oklahoma City, by myself or with my mom, Matt, or a friend.
6. Go to a club or see some live music here in Norman.
7. Get that piercing I've been wanting forever....either a nose ring, a cartilage again, or more ear holes.
8. Get a massage.
9. Try some products from Lush.
10. Learn to use my sewing machine. Kristen showed me how to thread it, and I did use it a bit back in November when she helped me reconstruct my Joy Division t-shirt.
11. Paint the bathroom ceiling white and buy new medicine cabinet/shelves.
12. Change curtains in living room.
13. Get all CDs loaded onto ITunes.
14. Get all camcorder footage onto digital format. Matt actually did this, and he finished just hours into my birthday!
15. Open Flickr account.
16. Put more content on myspace account and meet old friends and students there.
17. Organize recipes in notebook.
18. Visit Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
19. Take Aidan roller skating again.
20. Go camping at least once.
21. Organize a group camp trip with my local friends. We haven't gone yet, but we've talked about when and where.
22. Go out and kick it old school with Kristen in Dallas while the guys watch the kids.
23. Have my little brother Daniel come up to visit with his girlfriend, also named Leah. Daniel came for dinner one night, but he and his girlfriend broke up.
24. Have my niece and nephew come stay for a few days this summer.
25. Go to my family reunion in Texas in June.
26. See my grandfather.
27. Eat at Benvenuti's, a sort-of new Italian place in downtown Norman.
28. Go see my niece Kayla and meet her new baby.
29. Go to the pottery painting place with my friend Courtney.
30. Take a class at the local bead store.
31. Crochet another project.
32. Join the Oklahoma Food Co-op
33. Start geocaching with Aidan.
34. Learn a few chords/songs on my guitar.
Not too shabby. I'm not making another list this year, though. I just want to try to relax and ride the waves of our big life changes that are coming up as peacefully as possible. I'm not asking too much out of life at the moment other than to get us all to the other side safely. :)
