Live to Love Another Day

So, as of 9:53 am on February 1st, I've been around for 23 years. Obviously I have no idea what the Lord has planned for me, but I'm eager for the plan to unfold. For my birthday this year, I decided I wanted to have a birthday dinner with some of my best friends at Cheesecake Factory. Brittany was in charge of logistics and she even picked up the tab for my fish tacos and lemon raspberry cheesecake, does it get any better? Rachel, Brittany and Asilyn (below) are a couple of my friends who were in attendance and it was a good time had by all! Apparently, Rachel did not get the memo about wearing purple.

I went home this weekend for a benefit concert that a good friend of mine, Sarajane, was hosting. The girl can sing any genre, but she prefers opera! The concert benefited a non-profit called House of Friends. The organization is offered free of charge to individuals with dementia who are being cared for at home by family members. It is a weekly program designed to give the family caregiver a four-hour respite. Participants interact socially with others in a highly structured but caring mode. The goal is to support the family so that institutionalization can be postponed. Check it out at http://www.bethanyhof.org/. Sarajane (below) also has a website. Check it out: http://www.meladailey.com/.

While at home, I was also able to spend quality time with my mom and dad and 3 of my friends from high school. On Saturday, my mom needed to run some errands and I needed to get my car inspected. While my car was being inspected, my mom, dad and I went to Academy and the post office - my dad drove. So we go to the post office and my mom is in line and my dad and I are sitting on a bench inside people watching. It's time to go and this is how the situation plays out, inside the post office, in front of spectators:

Dad: Nikki, do you have the keys?

Mom: No, you have the keys.

Dad: No, I don't have the keys...

(Dad checks his pockets and I can hear the keys, but he can't find them)

Me: Dad, you drove and you have the keys.

Dad: No, I don't have them! Nikki check your purse.

Mom: I don't have them.

Me: Dad, maybe you locked them in the car...

(Dad walks out of the post office first)

Me: DAD! They are in your pants! You tucked the keys in your pants!

(Dad reaches towards his lower back and grabs the keys that are dangling from his pants)
Me: Why would you put them there?!

Dad: I put them there so I wouldn't forget them...

It was so funny, and my mom and I were both laughing so hard! I tried to get him to re-enact the situation so I could take a picture and post it, but he refused.

Another highlight of the weekend was the return of the pine cone. You might recall that I put a pine cone at the bottom of my dad's stocking at Christmas. To my surprise, the pine cone returned to a place I least expected to see it. So, I'm sleeping in one of the most comfortable beds and as I roll over, I kick something. My first thought was some animal with teeth is in my bed. Startled, I wake up and debate on whether or not I should look to see what it is. I think about what I felt a little bit more and thought Eddie (the dog) might have snuck a treat and left it in the bed. I decide to face my fears and pull back the covers to reveal what's in my bed. What do I find? A pinecone. My dad put the pine cone in my bed. Oh, this is funny...

I was breathing heavier than normal and my heart was beating pretty fast, so I decided to walk to the kitchen to get some water. On the way back to my room, I dropped the pine cone in my dad's chair.

I wake up the next morning and run to the living room to find my dad in his chair.

Me: Dad, did you find something in your chair this morning?

Dad (with a confused look on his face): No, but I think my underwear got bunched up because I am a little uncomfortable.

Most Saturday mornings, my parents meet Jessica & Evan and Evan's family at a hole in the wall in Round Rock, formerly known as the Breakfast Taco House. This Saturday was no different than most so I needed to get dressed so we could be there on time. I was going to grab a pair of jeans from my bag, but I decided to wear the jeans that I had worn the day before. I find that it's difficult to pull my pants all the way up because there is a freakin' pine cone in my pocket!

My dad had the weekend off and was scheduled to go back to work on Monday. I thought, "Perfect! I'll shove the pine cone in his work boot!" Well, I told my mom about how I shoved the pine cone to the tip of his work boot and she got a little worked up thinking about his reaction at 4:30 am on Monday morning. She said passionately, "Do not put that pine cone all the way in his boot! Do you hear me?! He's going to be upset and late for work if you do that. Do not make it hard for him to get that pine cone out!" "Ugh! Fine! Mom, he better not find it before Monday morning or I'm going to be upset." "Honey, he won't see it. He gets ready in the dark so he won't wake me up. He won't see it." Well, to my frustration, my dad decided to take Monday and Tuesday off. He already had Wednesday and Thursday off so that meant he wasn't going to find the pine cone until Friday. So I called my dad today and he picks up the phone and starts screaming:

Dad: No doc, no!! Wait for the anesthesia to kick in!!! No!!!!

(I'm freaking out because I don't know what's going on)

Me: Dad! What's going on? Where are you?!

Dad (Panicked): I'm in the minor emergency room!

(Immediately, I think something is wrong with my mom.

Me: Why? What's wrong?!

Dad: I got a pine cone stuck in my foot!

Me: What?! You found it? How did you find it?!

Dad: Are you kidding me? I found it the afternoon you left for Dallas.

Me: Ugh!!! Dad that was going to be so good!

Dad, be on guard...