Happy Birthday (Week) to Me...

I like to celebrate my birthday for an entire week. It gives me an excuse to eat as much junk food as I want and to demand favors from my very accommodating husband. ("Ryan, can you do the dishes tonight? I mean, it is my birthday week!")

My actual birthday isn't until Sunday...but I had an early birthday present this weekend when Katie Halverson, one of my favorite people in the world, came to visit for Memorial Day. Kat and I met in our college dorm hall, and we've been great friends ever since.

Some fun photos in many "exotic" locations around the area:

Mormon temple at Palmyra, NY

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Niagara Falls

Some fun anecdotes:

-I've always called Katie "Kat." Well, a couple of weeks ago, I learned a very irritating yet catchy camp song entitled "The Cat Came Back" (Thanks, Adrian!), and for some reason, now I cannot say "Kat" without that tune popping into my head. Consequently, I was singing it all weekend, and Ryan and Katie wanted to kill me. The story gets better: On Monday morning, Kat and I were supposed to wake up at a decent hour to go shopping, but, of course, we kept hitting the snooze button and couldn't get our rear ends out of bed. Ryan was in the other room studying and got annoyed by the blaring alarm every five minutes, so he thought of a clever way to wake us up: He went to youtube and pulled up a stunning rendition of my camp favorite, and he blared it in the other room. Katie and I burst out laughing, and, sure enough, hopped up to start the day.

-This is the second time we've taken Deborah to Palmyra. Some of you may remember that she got a "Cadillac" electric wheelchair last time, and that's what we asked for this time, but instead, we got a "Monster Truck" four-wheeler. (Apparently, the electric chair had not been charged.) Now, I've seen some pretty crazy wheelchairs in my day, but this one takes the cake. Deb was lounging like a queen as Ryan huffed and puffed and pushed her along the trails and up the hills.

-On our way home from Palmyra, we were listening to some church talks on CD, and suddenly the choir started a special musical number. I joined in my best opera soprano, hitting the high notes with vigor. When I paused, Deborah announced, "Oh no, girl...that has got to go!" Apparently, I don't so sound good singing opera.

-We had our spunky neighbors over for dinner, and during the middle of the meal, David, the adorable seven year old, announced that he "had to go #2" and started running for the bathroom. His mother forbade him to use our bathroom (apparently, he can stink up an entire house) and made him run home to go. On his way out the door, he said, "Nobody touch my food!!" and then he looked at Katie, pointed two fingers to his eyes, and then pointed them at her, as if to say, "I'm watching you!" She burst out laughing.

It was a great weekend of fun with one of my closest, dearest friends. I love just talking and laughing with Katie.

Best birthday present ever!