Summin' Up My Birthday

We went to the Macaroni Grill for my birthday last night. I kept wondering why we keep going to the Macaroni Grill for my birthday through the whole meal. My chicken was good, but not that good. We paid 5 bucks for Alyssa's spaghetti that she didn't eat (and that leaked through the plastic container, soaked through the paper sack we were carrying it in, and spilled all over the sidewalk right outside a very expensive shoe store). Ethan picked up a plate, and dropped it on the floor. When it crashed, someone across the restaurant hollered "way to go" and clapped. I hope he thought it was a waiter dropping things. Alyssa refused to sit on her bottom and tipped her chair over twice. Overall, it was quite stressful, expensive, and not at all worth it until they brought out the opera singer with the cake. Emphasis here is on "cake."

It was a huge piece of chocolate cake with chocolate sauce dribbled all around it and quirts of whipped cream by the corners. I haven't had much of an appetite for sweets lately, but that seemed to be pushed to the side for ten minutes while we ate my cake. It was great.

On the way home we remembered that we should have gotten gas on the way out, because we were getting a bit low and our fuel pump acts up - actually, doesn't act at all - when the gas tank gets low. We decided that the gas station would be our first stop once we reached Forest Grove. The problem is that we didn't reach Forest Grove before having our car slowly lose power and coast to a stop. This has happened once before and we discovered, after having our friends tow us to a car shop, that all it needs to do is sit for a while and it will start right up. So we waited, and tried the engine, and waited, and tried the engine. Nothing.

Ethan fell asleep, so we covered him with a dish towel we had in the car, and Alyssa came up to the front seat to sit in my lap. This is when it got fun. Brian rolled down the window when the air got stuffy, and we listened to the frogs and owls outside. We sang "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid and a few rounds of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

When we realized the car wasn't going to start, we called the Claypools for the Cluny's phone number, then called the Cluny's to come save us. They were the ones who helped us out when we ran into problems before, and they had possession of the gas can we had bought. (We didn't think we'd need it again.)

So there were some lows and some highs yesterday. My mom and dad called at 7:30 in the morning before my dad left for work to sing me "Happy Birthday." Alyssa got into severe trouble for not listening and ignoring both the house rules and her mother. Ethan took a good nap, and I was even able to get Alyssa to lay down with me for a nap. Grandma Orton called to sing her version of "Happy Birthday." (Happy birthday to beautiful, smart, fun, loving, wonderful Carrie who is special and I love so very much...) And we spent a beautiful Spring-ish evening as a family, enjoying nature and a broken down car.