Chick Fil-A Birthday Dinner

We aren’t much in to celebrating holidays or birthdays. But they are remembered in less traditional ways. We were trying to figure out what to order in for dinner. Nothing sounded good. Then I remembered that my husband really had a thing for Chick Fil-A earlier in the week when we went to have our Subaru serviced in Tysons. We walked over to see if they had curbside pickup because it doesn’t have a drive in, and they did. So we thought that would be the best birthday dinner since it’s been over a year since we have been to a Chick Fil-A. We usually stop at one for dinner when we are on a road trip - but there haven’t been any. The place is just three miles away, but traffic is always a bit sketchy. I downloaded the app and we planned to drive over so we would be home by 6:30, then order once we arrived. It all went without a hitch. Dinner was everything we hoped it would be - spicy sandwich and salad, macaroni and cheese and waffle fries. Not having this kind of food routinely makes it all the more delicious. After dinner, the birthday candles came out and were placed on the cookie plate. My husband doesn’t care for cake. It felt like I had just gone through this motion yesterday. It’s already a year gone by. It sure feels better than last year at this time, but nothing like it did two years ago. At least spring is in the air and we are both healthy as things go. It was a great adventure to the Chick Fil-A and another memorable birthday. 

Celebrating a Birthday

We don’t usually make a big deal about birthdays. My husband prefers to treat each day like it is special. I agree, but sometimes you just want to celebrate a bit more. We moved in to our new condo in northern Virginia almost one year ago from Capitol Hill. So this past week was the first time my husband had a birthday on our new home. But due to the circumstances we live in today, plus being in the over 65 “at risk” age group, we haven’t left the house in about three weeks. So we didn’t go out to lunch, or dinner, or anything else. Luckily for us, being retired  hasn’t changed our lives quite so much. And for that we are very thankful. And being health care career people, we are so grateful to our colleagues and friends working every day - including our son on the front lines. So to add a bit of levity I found a couple of happy birthday recordings and played them for my husband. After dinner I loaded his favorite cookies on a plate and added a candle. It was a good a day as any other. And we are just plain thankful for what we have. 

Roses from Wisconsin

We were waiting for our new couch to be delivered when the phone rang. They said they would be there within one minute. I didn't see any truck rolling down the street, but a cab turned in to the driveway. We ignored it because we didn't order a cab, and we were not expecting any deliveries. Then we say a guy standing in front of the building waiting for the door to get opened. The phone rang again, and we answered it. He had a package in his hand. My husband went out to answer the door and he returned with a floral arrangement that was addressed to me. I was surprised to say the least. But when I read who it was from I wasn't surprised at all. Four of our dearest friends from Milwaukee sent a retirement red victory rose plant in a cheerful container with a red bow. It is so touching to be remembered by friends from afar. I've known them for over thirty years as colleagues and then as friends. We always see them whenever we visit Wisconsin and stay in touch regularly. That is one of the most difficult things about moving away from a place you lived for so many years. It is not easily replaced. Thanks so much Marlene, Carol, Jean and Janet. 

The Birthday Card

Birthdays are meant to be remembered, but that is not the approach my husband takes. He would prefer that it be forgotten. He says it was never celebrated in his home when he was growing up. But I don't believe him. He did have a birthday this past week. We went out to dinner with a friend of ours. He received an Ecard from other friends, and a phone call. But this year was the first time his adopted "sister" did not send him a card. I didn't mention it to him, but I know he had to have thought about it. Yesterday when the mail arrived, he stepped in to the room with a cheery smile holding not one, but two envelopes that were addressed to him. One of them was from his "adopted" sister, and the other from the nurse who worked with him in his office when he was a practicing surgeon. We saw them both when we visited in Milwaukee last summer. Both of them mean a lot to him. Both of them remind us of how kind and gentle the folks are in Milwaukee - particularly the people we worked with in our thirty plus year health care careers. And no matter what he really thinks, I know he was very happy to be reminded - even it was a day late, and was for his birthday. So as usual, I put them on the fancy towel rack we use as a display area along with the thank you card we recently received from France. So whenever we look that way we are reminded of these nice folks. I know that's something he does like to remember. 

A Hard Day's Night Happy New Year

We like old movies. We watch them all the time. They are all queued up when there is nothing else to watch - which is quite frequent. We also love television. Not a lot of people will admit to it. But our favorite place is sitting on the couch in front of our TV and enjoying the show. Since we've been cooped up over a week now with this dreadful respiratory virus flu thing, we've even been watching more of them. We stumbled across A Hard Day's Night in between other shows and stuck to it. Being New Year's Eve, it's always a time to remember what was, and think about what might be. As I'm getting older, I'm not sure I like to think about what might be. My husband is the eternal optimist and has such a happy go lucky attitude about everything. We sort of balance each other out. So as we were watching last night, it took me back to 1964. I do remember going to see the movie with someone at a Saturday matinee. My favorite Beatle was John to begin with, and somewhere along the line it changed to Ringo. I even named my parakeet after him. All I could think about was how much this music became such a part of my life even to this day. Whether it was really that good or not - I can't be the judge. But it was definitely a phenomenon that I was happy to be a part of.