27th Bday

Today is my 27th birthday. When I woke up this morning, I actually felt a year older, but in a good way. I thought of my life, as one does when they age another year, and felt extremely pleased. I didn't feel like I'm rushing through it or taking it for granted. I try to give thanks for my blessings everyday and really enjoy moments with my kiddos and still love dates with my husband. I am also proud that I am finishing school and feel good about the paths I am taking with school and my eventual career(s). All in all, I feel good.

I actually didn't feel like I had aged all that fast until I remembered that I am now 27 and I had married at 19. That brought it home with a great big wow. So, how did I celebrate? On Friday, H and I went on a date. We had dinner at my favorite pub and then headed downtown. On our way to a piano bar, we walked past an art gallery that looked interesting. On display that night was a collection of photos of baseball players from about 1920-1950. The owners were a father and son that, over the years, had collected the original glass negatives from the estate sales of sports photographers. Each photo has never been published and had a great story behind it. Our favorite was of Jackie Robinson leaving the Dodgers' clubhouse for the last time. Apparently, Robinson was going to be traded to another team and he didn't want that. He had started as a Dodger and wanted to end as one. The owners wouldn't agree to this, so he retired. On his last day of such a glorious career, he exited the basement locker room, dressed in a suit and long coat, with his bat over his shoulder and his duffle bag hanging off of it. Through the open door, the only one that was there to see him off was a cat, sitting in the path, staring at the camera. I thought it was kind of sad that he didn't receive more fanfare at the end of his career. H said that it showed how classy Robinson was, leaving with a smile and with his dignity. It turned out that that night was also the last night that the gallery was going to be open. The building had been sold and this was their last show. We really enjoyed the show and learned a lot. How often can you see a Ty Cobb baseball bat signed by Pete Rose on the day he broke his homerun record? You can check out the gallery website here, Gallery240. And you can check out the collection here, The Slice of Americana Baseball.

After the gallery, we wandered around downtown and decided to check out a gallery that H's friend owned. However, it wasn't there anymore (shows how often we go there). In the same building, we saw a sign for Art and Soup on the 23rd floor. When we exited the elevator, we quickly realized that it was a black tie event. As we headed back to the elevator, a woman urged us to go in and dance and check out the art. There were about 10 artists there with selections of their work up for sale and also a silent auction on some of the works. Our favorite was an artist that did junk art, Fred Conlon. He made a creature that is like an anti-garden gnome. My favorite of his collection is, unfortunately, not on his site. But picture two anti-gnomes carrying off a traditional garden gnome over their heads, with him tied up. Another was of two anti-gnomes roasting a garden gnome on a spit over a fire pit. It was really funny and something I would love to put in my yard. And that marked the end of our date. I had a really good time.

Saturday, I got to wander the mall on my own and spend a little time and money on myself. I rarely find myself in a mall, but enjoyed it. I bought myself some earrings, a new shirt, and a card for my sister. I'm pretty low maintenance. H and the kids each got me a bday card with a huge bar of chocolate. Later, we also went to a church bbq that was full of food, fun, and karaoke (which I passed on). We then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch for the night. I was woken up by a happy birthday from Tiny and "birthday cuddles" from her. That's a good way to start the day.

Well, I better get to my house since the only thing I have done this weekend on it is pulling weeds in the front yard. This was a lot more work than it sounds, my legs and bum are still sore. Enjoy your Sunday!