Happy what??

I can’t believe I almost forgot to share one of the funniest stories from this weekend!!

So, Sunday morning before Chase’s party, my parents went out to get a cake. Knowing that they had not ordered one ahead of time, they knew the choices would be limited, but they figured they could find a ready-made cake and have someone write “Happy Birthday Chase” in icing. Except that’s not quite what they got…

Mama was walking around the store, picking up a few other things, when my stepdad came up with cake, trying not to laugh. He pointed down to the cake and Mama saw, “Happy Birthy Chase” in bright green icing. BIRTHY?!? Really?? What’s that?

So, trying to be a polite as possible, she took the cake back to the bakery, where she had to explain to the girl that she left a couple of letters out of the word “birthday.”

And the girl’s response?? “Ooooh, I’m sorry. It’s my first day!! I can fix it!”

And that’s when Mama gave in to a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She had to walk away and let my stepdad wait for the cake! See, that’s the family curse that she passed on to me. We laugh at really inappropriate times. We get so carried away laughing, we can’t function. So she started walking around the store, laughing to herself. I bet the other customers thought she was mental.

Anyway, the girl kind of raked off the “y” and slapped the other letters on there and called it a cake. And let me tell you… it was pretty. So very pretty.

I wish I had a picture of the “Birthy” cake to share with you, but I was a bum this weekend and didn’t take any pictures at all.

However, if you’d like to see some really awful mess-ups, my cousin Jen linked a blog a last month that shows various cake disasters. If you’d like to check it out, click here.

A weekend in review

I got my first real six string, bought at the Five and Dime… played it til my fingers bled. It was the summer of ’69.

Okay, so I didn’t buy it at the Five and Dime. It was a Christmas present and I think it came from Guitar Gallery in Birmingham. And my fingers didn’t bleed, but they are sore… and I guess we’ve come a long way since ’69, and it’s actually winter.

BUT… I did get a guitar this weekend!! And while I’ve already exhausted the one song I can play, I will hopefully be learning more soon. (And by “the one song I can play,” don’t think I mean that I play it well. I mean it’s recognizable and that’s about it.)

My weekend, as a whole, was pretty fantastic.

Friday night we did the duel birthday dinner for me and my step-dad. I was very pleased when I learned that the waiters at the restaurant weren’t allowed to sing or make a big deal out your birthday. We did get free dessert though. And I think it was easier to enjoy without the off-key shouting and clapping that I’ve come to expect.

After dinner, I went down to Red Bones – the one bar in the Montevallo area. One of my best friends works there and she wanted to celebrate my birthday with me. The bar happened to be closed for repair, so it wound up being the two of us, the owner and about 10 other people having a VIP party, small-town style. (Basically just sitting around, goofing off and dancing to really bad juke-box songs.) It wound up being a lot of fun. I stayed out WAY too late, but it was definitely worth it.

Saturday, Mama and I went shopping and I got some more work clothes that were badly needed. I even got a dress! I’m SO not the dress type, but I guess I should have at least one in my closet. So now I do. I might just wear it grocery shopping later because it’s so pretty.

I also made a trip to Books-A-Million to spend my birthday gift cards (people know I’m a nerd, so I’m easy to shop for!) I spent about $95 on six new books. I’m pretty stoked. I picked up The Host by Stephanie Meyer (author of the Twilight books), The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber, and the three Chuck Palahniuk books that I haven’t read: Invisible Monsters, Lullaby and Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey. I can’t wait to get started. The hard part is figuring out which one to read first.

THEN, it was off to the MOST amazing Christmas concert EVER. Trans-Siberian Orchestra. One word: Amazing. No… that doesn’t do it justice. Even though this was the fifth time I’ve seen them, they never get old. They went bigger and better than ever with the pyrotechnics and lasers this year. And the snow. OH MY GOSH… they blew so much snow over the civic center floor. (For those of you who live in areas where it actually snows, SHUT UP. I know you’re thinking, “Ooooh, snow. Who cares?” But for a girl in south Alabama, it was magic!)

Yesterday was Chase’s birthday party at the bowling alley. I can’t believe he’s 11!! When did that happen? He’s almost as tall as me. (I know… it doesn’t take much.) He and his friends had a great time. I wish I had their energy!! If you’ve never seen a group of 11 year old boys hopped up on sweet tea and birthday cake, you don’t know what you’re missing.

After the party, I hit the road and headed back to my new home-town for a couple days of work. My new Mitch Hedberg CD, Do You Believe in Gosh, really made the ride home enjoyable. I laughed until my face hurt.

Kevin came by for a quick dinner and some football (my Alma Mater, Troy, lost in over time to Southern Miss. Booooo.)

Then it was off to bed to rest up for the week ahead.

So there you have it – my busy, yet super-fun weekend.

What about y’all? Did you do anything fun this weekend? I’d love to hear about it! (Especially since I made you suffer through a play-by-play of mine!)