The best birthday EVER

So I had this big idea that I was going to be mature about my birthday this year and not go around telling everyone it was my birthday, but I didn't succeed, and boy was that a good thing!

On Friday I went to my favorite yarn shop (which happens to be owned by a friend), and when I mentioned that my Hebrew birthday* was the next day, she said "oh, and you get the birthday discount." What birthday discount? Wow!

And of course I got an emailed coupon for my annual free ice cream at Baskin-Robbins.

And two (not-actually-kosher) baked good treats from different stores.

But the exciting part is when I went to get my annual hair cut today, I told the stylist it was my birthday, and he gave me a free waxing, too! (Sorry to any guys out there reading this.)

But even those aren't why it was the best birthday EVER. Here's why it was the best birthday EVER: I took Sabrina out to dinner at a restaurant. We had to walk to get there because the parking situation by the restaurant is abominable even when there isn't snow on the ground. When I walk by myself, it takes 15 minutes. With Sabrina, it took 40 minutes. She was walking in the snow (and got her feet VERY wet and cold!) but she held my hand without complaint the entire time, she responded to all of my requests except for "please stop kicking snow back onto the sidewalk", and she was just all-around fabulous. Then we got to the restaurant, and she told me she'd never been to a restaurant like it before. But even though I hadn't prepped her on restaurant etiquette, she was delightful. She sat quietly, enjoyed her dinner, and was adorable.

I also gave Sabrina a bracelet I made for her with her name in beads, and while she didn't say thank you, she did put it on and say that she doesn't want to take it off. What a cutie!

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to try to fit everything in, we got home too late for Sabrina to take a bath. (She brushed her teeth without playing, let me put her cream on, and put her pajamas on without any delay, then she wanted to lie down while we read stories--normally she asks to sit up--and was FAST asleep within two minutes of being done with stories. She even admitted that she was tired. When a kid tells you she's tired, you know she's tired. So no bath.) I have no idea when her last bath was, since she was at her dad's through Tuesday morning, and tomorrow she has her visit with mom, which means two things: 1. I hope mom doesn't complain about a lack of bathing, and 2. Sabrina will get home too late for a bath again. I'll have to call dad and tell him that Sabrina is going to need a bath when she gets to his house!

Wow, I think that being outside in the cold for so long makes a person sleepy. I am sitting on the sofa yawning, and it's not even 9:15! Ah well, time for bed, I suppose!


*I was asked the last time I mentioned this "what is a Hebrew birthday?" So, here's the answer: Judaism operates on a mostly-lunar calendar, unlike the secular calendar which is solar. So the Hebrew date I was born on, the 29th of the month of Shevat, falls on a different date on the secular calendar each year. (But always falls just before the Chinese New Year, which is also based on a lunar calendar. I just realized that this year.) This is also why holidays like Chanukah and Passover fall on different dates on the secular calendar each year.