My Younger Daughter's 30th Birthday

A nice Rainbow Cake!

It seems like yesterday when she was born. A little bundle of joy to complete our family. As bad as my memory is I will never forget that day or many of the ones since. It's hard to believe that she actually was born 30 years ago. She is one of the sweetest human beings to walk on this earth and it is my privilege to be her mom. She is a genuinely good person in every way. And, now she has reached a milestone birthday, it should be celebrated properly. But the timing for a big celebration just wasn't in the cards this year. And, truth be told, my daughter is a quiet, modest girl that doesn't like a lot of fanfare and attention, and a big party may not have been to her liking anyway.

There's been a lot going on in her life and mine through all of 2019 and continuing into 2020. Staring with her engagement, her sister having her first baby . . . her goddaughter, planning a wedding, buying a new house, getting rear-ended in a hit and run accident, and my own health issue which necessitated getting radiation treatments from the day after Christmas to early February. And did I mention wedding planning?  We are in the last three months before the wedding and there is a lot to do and loose ends to tie up and appointments to me made. All this after a world wind of celebration caused by the holidays. So a big birthday party would have been a bit overwhelming right now.

We decided on a nice small family dinner at one of our local favorite restaurants. This would be her celebration and also my husband's, who turned 65. My daughter suggested that we combine both birthdays which would save us all a weekend and a lot of time which is precious commodity right now. So I made reservations for this past Saturday and hoped the weather would cooperate with our plans.  Everything went smoothly. We all enjoyed our dinners and the baby, my sweet granddaughter, was very social and "read" the menu while we ate.

As for dessert, we always have that at home so we can digest our meals first. I was thinking about what kind of birthday cake to order that we all would enjoy. I have to say, at this point I was very sick of food of all kinds. Two months of holiday eating and 12 months of celebrating special occasions in 2019 has left me with little desire to indulge in much. But, the least I could do was to get a nice cake for my daughter and my husband. I found a bakery in the neighborhood that makes Rainbow Cakes. We all love rainbow cookies so I decided to go order one and surprise my daughter.  And, she was surprised when I cut into it and she saw what kind of cake it was.

As for gifts, we just had Christmas. This has been a problem every year since my daughter was born. What is left to get for her birthday in January after you have gotten everything for Christmas?  This year it wasn't too much of a dilemma. For Christmas I gave her and her fiancé "couple's gifts," which I got off the wedding registry. There were a few items that they hadn't gotten at the shower and they made nice gifts for Christmas. But I did feel bad that my daughter didn't get any personal gifts for her to enjoy. So I thought about it and came up with he idea to get her a nice simple jewelry box and a couple of pairs of earrings that I thought she would like, and she did.

Still, I feel a little bad that we didn't do more this year. Maybe next year we will make up for it. But for now, she was happy sharing her day with her family and looking forward to her wedding.

And just to show you just how sweet my daughter is, she brought a gift for her father. The only one he got that day. It was a handmade wooden watch that she really wanted him to have. It was only after she left, that we saw the inscription on the back that said, "Greatest Dad a daughter can have." It brought tears to our eyes and joy to our hearts. That's my baby girl!

2019: A Year of Taking The Good With The Bad

We have all heard that expression, "You have to take the good with the bad."  I was thinking about that this morning as I was reflecting on 2019 and all the things that happened last year.  Our family had some amazing celebrations for sure, but along with the blessings we did have a share of worries and stress. Taking the good with the bad, the year 2019 will certainly be one we will never forget.

Here's some of the good. Just a couple of months before 2018 ended, my older daughter announced she was pregnant and having a baby girl, and my younger daughter bought herself nice new car. Just a couple of days before the 2019 began, my younger daughter announced her engagement and showed us her beautiful ring. Wedding plans for a 2020 wedding had to begin almost immediately and some events had to be scheduled around her sister's pregnancy if she wanted her sister to be there for them. All of the main things were done within the first couple of months, the church, venue, photographer, DJ and MC and of course the bridal gown. When we went shopping for the dress my younger daughter handed her sister a card asking her to be her matron of honor, which made her tear up (mostly the hormones from the pregnancy). She actually found a dress that day and then we had a lovely lunch at a nearby restaurant. She had asked her future mother in law to come with us which was a wonderful idea and gave us all a chance to get more acquainted.

While all that was going on, it was also time to plan a baby shower. My older daughter had some issues with pregnancy and I was afraid that while the baby was due June 6th, she might be in a rush to get here early. So, invitations were sent out in February for a March shower. All went well at the shower, but now it was time for the engagement party for my younger daughter. I told her to bump up the date because I wasn't sure this baby would wait till June. April was a safer time to have the engagement party and that's what they did.

April is also the time I schedule my spring doctor appointments. This is when you have to take a little of the bad. My doctor, who has been monitoring a benign growth in my neck, had suggested that I consider radiation treatment. He was previously against it, but now he seemed to think it was a good idea. With all that I had going on in my life, I really wanted to postpone this until after my daughter's wedding. After thinking it over for a few weeks I decided I should try and get it done as soon as possible.  So I made an appointment with the radiation oncology doctor and after reviewing my case she said the radiation would stop the growth and put off surgery indefinitely (more good).

Now May rolls around and, just as I thought, my sweet baby granddaughter decided to make her grand debut about 10 days early.  Things start out normal enough with my daughter calling from the hospital early in the morning letting us know she was there. It wasn't till after the baby was born and things had settled down that I learned that during labor the baby was in distress. After two pushes the doctor made the decision to do an emergency C-section. My daughter was not expecting this and due to the urgency of the doctor she was very afraid that something would happen to her and/or the baby. Thank God she was in the hands of a very good and experienced doctor who just didn't have time for her best bedside manner under the circumstances. She apologized afterwards and the new mother and daughter were both healthy and happy when I went to the hospital to see them.

In June, after seven years of studying, my goddaughter graduated with her DPT degree (Doctor of Physical Therapy). It's been a long and challenging journey and it was finally over. Her mother, my cousin, threw her a party to celebrate this huge achievement. We are all so proud of her.  She's the first doctor in the family!

July was a relatively "quiet" month in that there were no celebrations and no issues to worry about.  But my younger daughter did go to an open house with her fiancé and they loved it, so they made an offer. The offer was accepted soon after.  And then the mortgage process began, wedding plans take a back seat for the moment. More of the good!

In August my girls threw me a surprise 65th birthday party. It was unexpected, but exactly how I wanted to celebrate my birthday with all my family around me. It was a wonderful day. And, a couple of weeks later my younger daughter and her fiancé closed on their new house. I still can't believe this all happened as fast as it did. But wait, there's more. One of my cousin's sons got a promotion at work to a management position with a title that's longer than this blog (just kidding). More great news! So proud and happy for him! And then, as if that wasn't enough, his brother, who had taken and passed 7 out of 8 insurance exams, let us know that he had passed the 8th and final exam. Not only is it very difficult to pass all 8 and it could take years to do it, but he did it all in a year and a half. His employers were very happy too and gave him a nice bonus for his achievement.  Apparently August was a good month! There is a short pause in September, either that or I just don't remember what, if anything, happened. Who could blame me?

In October, my cousin turned 60 years old and her three kids threw her a special surprise party. It was a great celebration. And while they were planning that, my daughter and her husband were planning the baby's baptism. If they had waited much longer the baby would not have been able to fit in the beautiful christening gown that both of my girls wore for their baptisms. I had to make a nice long sweater to go with it because it was a colder time of year, but it got done with time to spare.

In November we had the baby's baptism. She was so good throughout the ceremony. Even the priest commented on how good she was and just shy of 6 months old too. It was also in November that I met with the radiation doctor again. She was prepared to schedule my treatments to begin in December. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed with everything that had been going on and still what remained to do. I didn't want the holidays to be overshadowed by these treatments, which were going to take up every week day for 30 days. There was a lot to be done and so little time. Amazon to the rescue . . . I got cracking on my Christmas shopping while I was still home to wait for packages to arrive. But then, a few days after the baptism and right before Thanksgiving, some jerk who was probably texting and driving, rammed his SUV into my younger daughter's new car. Thank God she was okay, but it was a terrible experience for her and I was so upset. It was a hit and run so there was nothing to be done but file a claim and get the repairs done.  Still I was heartbroken for her and it caused a great deal of stress at a time when things were already stressful enough.

December rolled around too quickly. But I was determined that the baby's first Christmas at our house would be as special as I could make it. I put up my tree right after Thanksgiving. The radiation treatment center gave me a choice of starting radiation on the 17th or the 26th of December! Of course I chose the 26th so I could have my holidays in peace. I would have time to cook and shop and wrap and everything would be ready ahead of time. Then I could focus on myself and getting to and from the appointments without having to worry about running out of time. Christmas was wonderful, the gifts plentiful, the lasagna delicious, the baby was as good as gold.

Yes, 2019 was a full year of blessings and celebrations with a dash of unavoidable events that in the end worked themselves out. I guess that's life.  You gotta take the good with the bad and count your blessings. Here's to hoping all our days in 2020 are full of the "good" with as little of the "bad" as possible.