Birthentines

So, Andrew's birthday is on Valentine's day and I totally stole the title of this post from my friend Kali whose birthday is also on Valentine's day. Her husband came up with it.

I try to make Valentine's day more about Andrew's birthday than about getting stuff for me. We decided that we are going to try not surprising each other with birthday presents but instead pick something out and just go get it. So we went to Sears and Andrew picked out a miter "chop" saw. He was so excited that he got right to work when we got home. He's currently cutting wood to make a potato box. The next power tool he wants is a table saw because you can do just about everything basic with those two tools.


I made a pineapple upside down cake with fresh pineapple for his birthday. It was seriously yummy. Though we've decided that most recipes for pineapple upside down cake require more liquid with the pineapple than the they actually call for.


Andrew tried really hard to surprise me with orange roses, chocolates and a card. It started out as a good plan... He got up with Peter on Saturday morning and went to the store and picked everything up and I never knew. But he hid it in my craft room which I had decided to organize that day. So I saw the flowers and the grocery bag sitting there, but I didn't peek. Then later that night I was going to enter our receipts into Quicken and asked Andrew for his and he said that they were in his wallet. So I get them out and start entering them and I see the receipt from that morning for the flowers and such. His timing did surprise me though. I was expecting to see them out that morning before church, and then after church. He got it all out at dinner. The card is signed Love Andrew and Peter (he thought it was sparkly). The new Hershey's Bliss chocolates are really YUMMY!

It All Started With Salsa

I bought a 20 pound box of tomatoes to make salsa with and got through two batches before I ran out of peppers and various other things LONG before I ran out of tomatoes. So this morning I drove to Fry's to pick up some more so I could continue to make salsa today. I also ran out of jars to put the salsa in (I hadn't specifically bought jars for salsa I was just using the leftovers from making pickles). So I go to the canning isle in Fry's and even though the jars are on sale I know they are cheaper at Walmart. So I get my veggies and then I pack Peter back into the van to head down to Walmart for the jars. As I'm getting Peter out of the van in the Walmart parking lot I discover he is poopy and needs his diaper changed. So I debate with myself and decide to change his diaper in the van. Peter frequently has issues staying still while getting his diaper changed and even more so when he's on one of those diaper changing stations. So I put my bag back in the car and close Peter's door and go around to the other side of the van to get in and change Peter's diaper. But when I get to the other side I can't get in. I try all of the doors just to make sure I really have just locked my keys and an unbuckled Peter in the van in the Walmart parking lot. So now I really start to freak out because my cell phone is also in the car so I can't call anyone. I'm hyperventilating and a lady walks by me and I ask her if she has a cell phone... she doesn't but she's meeting someone on the other side of the parking lot and he does. So they come back and I call they ONLY phone number other than my own that I have memorized, Andrew's cell which is typically at his desk while he's in the lab. So he doesn't answer and the guy who let me use his cell phone goes inside to see if there's anyone in Walmart that can help me. He brings back a manager and she uses her cell phone to call the police. They send a cop, an ambulance and a fire truck to help me. The firefighter tries to use his tools to get the door open and the cop calls a tow truck (that takes AAA whom I would have called but didn't have the number since my wallet was also in the car) that will be here in 20 minutes to get the door open. Meanwhile the paramedic and I are trying to keep Peter occupied and in his seat which lasts for quite some time but he got interested in what all the guys were doing and climbs/falls out of his seat and starts to crawl around the van. He goes for the back seat first but there isn't much for him to do so he changes direction eats some random piece of food and then climbs into the front passenger seat. The firefighters were getting anxious to get the door open and the cop calls a different tow truck company that can make it in 5 minutes. Peter is in the front seat and starts playing with the door handle which if he had been strong enough he could have gotten himself out. Then the tow truck guy shows up and Peter gets interested in all the middle console buttons and we get him out. Then I still have to change Peter's diaper and get jars. Whew! I decided that we'll go into the store to the family bathroom to change him and I quickly got the jars and left. So I checked out of Fry's at 10:37am and didn't check out at Walmart until 12:05pm. Poor Peter was a little bit warm and very tired from all the climbing around he did that he fell asleep in the car on the way home. He, of course, was happy and fine through the whole ordeal, while I was an awful mess until they unlocked the door and got Peter out. What a morning! And now I need to finish making salsa. I almost just went home after they unlocked the car but I thought that would have been a TOTAL waste of the morning instead of just a partial waste. But that trip to Walmart ended up being $40 more expensive than the ones at Fry's. Oh well, maybe my car insurance will pick up the tab? Doubtful. At least it wasn't 100 degrees and it wasn't raining.