At Last

For six harrowing weeks every fall, I am older than my husband. He is nice about it and only teases me every other hour or so. And then the glorious day arrives when he ages and becomes the same number I have been dealing with for a month and a half.

Just such a wonderful occasion occurred this past weekend, and now we are even. To celebrate, I had to make something sweet with his favorite candy bar. Chocolate cake/cupcakes with Snickers chopped up inside. Caramel butter cream. Crushed Snickers on top. Caramel drizzle. It really was a recipe for success. I thought I had solved the world's great paradox by discovering the "nut cup" to bake my mini cupcakes. But they were met with hostility and grief when, thanks to the Snickers sinking and melting on the bottom and creating a suction between cake and cup, the cupcake wouldn't come out without a fierce struggle. I think they look cute, even if some of the yumminess remained in the bottom of the cup. I will blame the Snickers and think these cups would work well in normal, non-Snickers circumstances. I took the mini cupcakes to John at work to share with his coworkers. Then I came home to frost his double-layer Snickers cake. I think I eliminated his Snickers craving for the next year!

When John got home from work, we opened birthday presents. He finally added some things to his Amazon wish list, and just in time for his big day. He got a lot of fun tools to start building things around our house. I think he is planning on building me a buffet for our dining room! He got some levels of every size, a square, some replacement drill bits, and a spine-aligning contraption that, quite frankly, scares me to death. And, because I wanted him to have more fun opening things he couldn't guess right away, I surprised him with the new Mario Galaxy 2 for his Wii. John is such a hider of emotion...sometimes it can be hard to tell if he likes something. But his face lit up after opening every box, so I guess the evening could be called a success.

Something else that made his day? Eating at Joe's BBQ in Gilbert. Birthday boys eat for free. So we patiently waited in line, knowing the anticipation and salivation would be worth it in the end. John got the jumbo BBQ sandwich with beef brisket, mac and cheese, and baked beans. These baked beans are the reason we had Joe's BBQ cater our wedding dinner two years ago...pure heaven! I got a stuffed baked potato with pulled pork. It was one of the greatest dining experiences of my life since I've never had such a delicious baked potato! Yum! I will skip the expensive bottled ginger ale next time, since Canadian Dry beat it hands-down.

After we gorged ourselves at Joe's, we headed home to recuperate and eat some cake. John blew out some candles while I sang a few words (literally, just a few words before the awkward silence caused me to stop). Then we watched a movie to finish the evening. We have really been enjoying our new Netflix account since we signed up about a month ago. We were waiting for John to finish school and then to get into a new house. Check and check, so Netflix is back!

Happy Birthday, Old Man. I sure am glad I'm yours.