Well, Mom’s birthday started perfectly–with a blueberry scone from Espresso Love on Martha’s Vineyard. This scone, right here, has been hoarded in our freezer since May. She defrosted it yesterday and I warmed it up for her (a little too enthusiastically) when I was making my breakfast and then she enjoyed every bite–and is now counting the days until she can get a fresh one again. She’s had blueberry scones from other places–including homemade ones from me–but these are still her be-all-end-all scones. (Is it wrong of me to be disappointed that she doesn’t get this enthusiastic about anything I make? I mean, you’d think it was stollen, or something.)

Anyway, after breakfast, to be different, we drove out to the Paramus Park mall because it had been years since we’d been there and we needed a destination. We stopped at the Paramus Barnes & Noble, too, for a relaxing cup of coffee and chocolate cupcake for “lunch.” And where, yes, I may have bought two books. But only two!

When we came home, we took Chappy out for a walk–the first one in about a week. You can see that we had actual sunshine today, with real, blue skies. SUCH an improvement over the weather of the last couple of days, and the temperature was about 40 degrees, so it was really very nice for February (although tomorrow’s supposed to be warmer). After the walk, I put together a lasagne for supper, helped Dad with some computer questions, and found some time to sit down with Chappy and Eight Cousins. For something like a whole hour of relaxation! (Oooh!)

I gave Mom her present after supper. A VHS copy of the Debbie Reynolds/Donald O’Connor movie, I Love Melvin. And if you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad. I never had, either. It’s from 1953 and I’m guessing it wasn’t exactly a hit (not like Singin’ in the Rain, that’s for sure, but then that is THE classic movie musical). But, still, Mom was waxing rhapsodic about the movie last month, so I looked on Amazon and found a used copy and bought it for her. Boy oh boy, was she ever surprised when she unwrapped it.

It’s funny, too, because for the last couple of weeks we’ve occasionally talked about what we would do on her birthday, and what we would watch on tv tonight, and we’ve bounced from idea to idea–Moonstruck and Becoming Jane were strong candidates, as were various other tv shows. (Like the bootleg DVDs of Cupid I got her), but the whole time, I’ve been secretly laughing. I KNEW we weren’t going to be watching any of those things. We’re watching I Love Melvin tonight, of course! She didn’t know it, but there was never any doubt at all.

I do love being sneaky around birthdays.

Oh, and the post title? Fiftieth anniversary of Mom’s sweet sixteen . . . Although I, of course, think she’s been sweet even longer. If you feel so inclined, head over and leave her a birthday greeting at her blog.

Now, otherwise? Not much else to say, really, though it was nice to have the day off from work. Fellow book-lovers should check out this very nifty space-saving staircase. And then, this article about Sheep Circles was pretty interesting. If any of you watch Chuck, the “Buy More” Nerd Herd helpful computer tips are handy. But, beyond that? Um . . . well, it’s been a pretty full day . . . (grin) See y’all tomorrow!

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Fiftieth //