Getting Older

Dusty and I both have birthdays in January.  His is the 7th and mine is the 17th.  This year we decided to keep our celebrations simple.

Every year for his birthday I surprise him with a muffin with a lone birthday candle in the morning.  This has been the tradition for at least the last five years.  I have found new ways to do this each time.  Now that we are married it is hard to make them without him knowing.  This year I had the perfect plan.  He left early for church the morning before his birthday.  I had an hour.  It all went downhill from there.  The first obstacle was the eggs.  The recipe required two and that is exactly what we had.  One had the smallest crack, which is something that would ordinarily bother me, but I convinced myself that it would be okay.  I didn’t have enough time to run to the store.  Then I needed 1/4  cup of milk (so I thought).  I poured out what was left of the milk into a measuring cup and it came to exactly 1/4 cup.  Then upon further examination of the recipe I found that it actually called for 3/4 cup.  Determined to make this work, I started raiding our cabinets.  I found three cans of evaporated milk.  I then began Googling if this was an acceptable substitute and what the ratio should be.  It was perfect! I opened the can and then noticed the expiration date was for January of last year.  I hit up Google again.  I found that it is perfectly acceptable to use evaporated milk a year after the date (any later than that they said to feed it to the pigs).  I decided to go for it.  Then I looked at the clock.  It took 20 minutes to bake the muffins and I had 15 minutes until church started.  I also hadn’t even started to get ready.  I had no where to hide the mix with already questionable ingredients.  I tossed it all out.  This is pretty much how I felt.

Later that night Dusty went back to the church and I found a mix in our cabinets where you just have to add water.  Where was this solution before?

I turned 25 this year.  This means several things.  It means that my insurance rate will drop.  It means that I am a quarter of a century old.  It also means that I need to get my 25 year old license.  This proved to be the most trying part of turning 25.  I visited the DMV two days before my birthday, the day my license expires, only to realize that I did not possess an updated Social Security card.  This meant that they could not renew my license and I needed to make a trip to the Social Security office.  I bet you didn’t know that the Social Security office is only open from 9-3 on weekdays and only 9-12 on Wednesday.  Thankfully, another teacher so kindly offered to watch my class and allowed me to leave school a little earlier on my birthday to take care of this.  My new card will arrive in two weeks.  Sheesh.

Last night I celebrated with just the girls. They made it a wonderful night.  We all went out to Fujiyama for dinner.  What is a special event without sushi?  Then we all went back to Samantha’s house for games.  Little did I know it was all decorated and looking adorable.  She also got cupcakes!  I cherish the time I get to spend with these ladies.  It is always such a blessing.

Tonight Dusty and I are celebrating with my family.  Wing night! Can’t wait!

Amy