I had a great birthday this year. I felt like last year, turning forty, was difficult for me; the combination of having a one year old at age forty, stepping away from my work at the practice to allow the newly hired practice manager to do what I didn't have time to do, and friends going back to work made me question who I was and where I was going. This year however, I feel like I'm doing generally the right things I should be.
A giant highlight was that Heather and I went on our first girl's trip.
After a tricky time trying to find a location and flights that matched (and after Heather had done all the legwork of getting an airbnb, rental car, etc), we both flew to Charleston and headed to our first stop, a surprise pedicure as a birthday gift from Heather. We were both exhausted from lack of sleep (a red-eye for Heather and a 4am wakeup to get the airport on time for me), but the pedicure was lovely.
Next stop was crabbing, an activity Heather has wanted to do for a long time. A friend of hers who lives in Charleston had all the equipment and showed us the ropes, which involved little more than dumping some chicken gizzards into the center of a crabbing cage, closing the latch, and dropping the cage into the water next to the dock. After an hour or so, we had caught a few! We didn't eat them, but it was a fun experience. I had no idea that Heather loved crab and lobster so much. The weather for most of the trip was just gorgeous--the recent hurricane had cleared the air and sucked a lot of the moisture out apparently, so for the first few days it definitely didn't feel like SC in September.
We enjoyed a meal out and then hit the sack after watching a movie. The next morning we headed to Edisto Beach and enjoyed the fairly empty beach, looking for shark's teeth for Heather (sadly no luck) and reading under a hiliariously pathetic umbrella we'd picked up from Food Lion. It was very peaceful--I love the sounds of the ocean and feeling the breeze while sitting in the shade.
Living the dream in our forties and fifties! ;-)
One evening we tried hiking to an Indian burial mound but the trail had been closed due to the hurricane damage. We did enjoy a lovely walk through a mosquito-infested marsh, however, and saw lots of teeny crabs and a buck as well.
Stunning sunset on Sunday evening. Sunday was wonderful--being able to harmonize while sitting next to my sister in Sacrament meeting and then spending the rest of the day working on an upcoming Sacrament talk, updating the blogs (ahem), reading, etc. was awesome. It was also fun talking to Mom and Dad on speaker phone to get our memories straight about various events that had happened in the family's past--where we moved when and why, etc.
Labor Day was our last day, but we packed up early and still managed to pack a lot in. We drove to Botany Bay, which is a beautiful nature preserve with "skeletons" of dead live oaks littering the beach.
I was super excited to see Angel Oak, which is the largest live oak east of the Mississippi, estimated between 300-500 years old. This picture simply does not do it justice and I was sad that it was closed on Labor Day so we couldn't get close (had to take a photo through a chain-link fence).
We headed to Charleston and walked through the City Market one more time, enjoying goodies and then took a fun carriage ride of the city. So much interesting history.
We ate at Hyman's, a famous seafood restaurant that frankly wasn't as good as the restaurant we'd enjoyed in Edisto the night before; the best part was that when I sat down I saw a plaque at my seat. How cool is that?! Then we headed to the airport. So so fun to be with my inspiring, awesome sister.
When I arrived home from Dulles a little before midnight, I discovered the garage had been totally cleaned out by Michael, the refrigerator had been cleaned out, and my car had been vacuumed out. And he'd repaired a hook on the bathroom door. The best gifts!!!
On the day of my birthday, my kind friend Ruth got a group of us together to enjoy smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Made me feel so loved! Pictured is Stacie Mayfield, Jennie Whyte, Ruth Robertson, Jenny Whiting, and Monica Mathusek with her son Eli (Benjy's buddy).
Henry's thoughtful gift was this sweet note and a dollar of his own money. Considering how little money he has, that was a truly generous gift to me.
I told Michael I didn't want to cook that night, so enjoyed take-out from Panera and their kitchen sink cookies for dessert. Yum!
Robbie left me this bouquet--when I looked in the closet, Robbie popped out to give me a big hug. And then he made me an awesome Google slideshow for my birthday--so sweet.
It was a great day!
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