Birthday Weekend

Birthday Weekend started off with a bang when Mama arrived at my house around 10:00 a.m. She had presents (some very cute clothes and a cute purse) and my very favorite birthday cake - Chocolate Delight. Call me weird . . . but I don't really care for cake and ice cream. Mom, of course, knows this, so she made me chocolate delight. It was W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!! I would have taken a picture, but it didn't last long enough. Jon even came home from work to grab some.

We worked on chair covers for my Parsons chairs pretty much all day and night. Mama should be on Project Runway. The pattern I had was really too small for my chairs, so Mom pretty much had to make one. It was a tough pattern to figure out. I sewed one cover and messed it up. Mama had to undo it, but guess what? No seam ripper. I wanted to call Jeff Foxworthy and tell him I had a new line for him to add to his redneck jokes . . . You must be a redneck if you use a pocket knife for a seam ripper. Yep, we had to get one of Alec's pocket knives to fix what I messed up. Mama worked so hard and by Saturday morning had them all finished. Thank you Mama!

Saturday night we were supposed to all meet at Bone Fish. It was dreary and rainy here and we were all beat. I called it off. Instead just my little family of 5 went and ate a birthday tradition for me - chicken wings, and Buffalo's has my favorites. I pretty much make a glutton out of myself with them on my birthday. It is the only day of the year that I will eat them and not feel guilty. I loved every.single.calorie I put in my mouth!!!

Sunday morning, which was my actual birthday I was so sleepy I slept a little late, which meant we ran late for Sunday School. I suggested to Jon that we go to Waffle House. He agreed! Yummy. I got my favorite - Hashbrowns . . . . scattered, smothered, covered and diced and coffee. We headed off to church, came home and ate leftovers, watched a little bit of a movie, and then it was time to go get Tiff.

Tiffani and I went to see Travis Cottrell and Beth Moore at a church that is about an hour and a half away from us. This event deserves a post on its own, so I'll post about it tomorrow.

Here are some birthday pictures.

Ash, Me, and Alec at Waffle House
Jon and Hanna at Waffle House

Yummy Chicken Wings and Blue Cheese dressing

Jon and Ash - I have NO idea why they are holding up 4 fingers. I was 32, so a 4 was not even in my digits this year . . . maybe they were just so excited about eating out after a week cooked meals at home and they got confused!

Hanna, Me, and Alec - I'm telling ya, I was SOO tired. You know I am tired if I pull my hair back. I absolutely despise it pulled back!!

Although I am a pretty positive person sometimes life is negative. I really try to dwell on the good things in life. . . after all God has really blessed me so much, and I have so much to be grateful for. However, I have to be real and real is this . . .

Sunday night on the way home from the concert I called Jon to let him know we were on our way home and we'd be there by 11:00 p.m. Ash answered the phone and told me Pawpaw called to tell me happy birthday. My dad is Pawpaw and my stepdad is Papa. Well, I thought she told me Pawpaw. I actually had bets going with Tiff's husband and her Mom as to if he would call on my birthday or not.

On Monday I called my Dad and this is how our conversation went,

"Hey Daddy. I'm so sorry I missed you last night. Ash told me you called, and I just wanted to let you know that she did tell me. Thank you for calling. I was at a concert with a friend of mine."

In a very grump voice, "Called? I didn't call you last night. If I did I must have done it in my sleep. My sinuses are all messed up and here I get one weekend off, and I spent it in bed all weekend. Happy late birthday though."

"Oh, okay. Ummm. . . well I'll talk to Ash. I thought she said it was you."

I'm just being honest here but I was thinking WHAT A JERK!!! Sorry y'all!

I called my mom later and asked her if James (what I call my stepdad) called and she said yes. I then asked Ash and Ash said, "Yes Mom I told you it was Papa." The funny thing is is that Jon said he heard her say Papa and while she was saying it he wondered if I thought she said Pawpaw . . . wishful thinking on my part. I guess I just heard what I wanted to. Don't get me wrong I love my stepdad dearly, but I am also secure in the fact that he loves me. My biological Dad is . . . a totally different story.

Please don't think I'm some spoiled brat. My Dad is the one who always made birthdays a big deal growing up. It's not the point he didn't call me, it is the principle of it.

If I told you I didn't care and he could drop off the face of the earth and I wouldn't care . . . I'd be lying. My feelings are certainly hurt. I just have to remind myself that it is impossible for him to love me because he does not have God's love in him . . . because he will not accept it. I just have to bathe him in prayer all the more. I have to practice what I preach to my Wednesday night kids at church. Three of them have biological parents that are unsaved and very bad just like my Dad. I always tell them with such passion in my voice, "You HAVE to pray for them. Because if you don't pray for them no one else may be praying for them."

Stay tuned. . . I can't wait to blog about Sunday night. I just hope my words will do it justice!