makeshift birthday

One of the most exciting parts of any birthday! (Juniper had just been serenading me with her violin, pretending we were in a fancy restaurant, thus the bow in her hand)

This past Friday, I celebrated my 36th birthday, and I had visions of how the birthday weekend would unfold.  Nothing fancy, mind you - but it involved some long solitary walks through the woods, dinner out at a restaurant of my choosing, sleeping in, and maybe taking myself out to a movie. But, as I have learned, plans are for chumps.  Plans basically never unfold the way you imagine they might.  

Friday morning started out the way you would expect a birthday in this house to unfold: a (very simple) breakfast in bed (this is a VERY necessary component of birthdays from Juniper's perspective), and handmade birthday crown (again, all Juniper's doing), and some presents.

Unwrapping my gifts with bedhead and a crown, while precariously balancing a tray of tea and food

There were a couple of little things: a pen from Linden and a Herb magazine and chocolate from Juniper.  The piece de resistance, however, was a handmade flower press that Clark and the kids had hand-crafted secretly over the past week:

Proudly displaying the fruits of their labour

 Then, when everyone had gone off to school and work, I thought about taking myself out for the first of my snowy walks, but instead, I hunkered down for the final read-through of my thesis.  This doesn't happen often, but I was SO CLOSE to feeling like I could send it off that I was compelled to finish.  So that is, in the end, what I spent my day doing.

Anyway, before I knew it, it was time to meet Juniper at the bus.  Then I went to get Linden off of HIS bus 20 minutes later, and found him unable to physically get off the bus by himself, as he was crying miserably with a headache.  That is, a you can imagine, where all the plans started to vaporize.

Juniper sharing her Magic Tree House obsession by reading to sick Linden. 

So, in the end, it was mostly a weekend of trying to muddle through things as best as possible.  It involved a bunch of Advil (it seems as though, in the end, Linden has a bit of an ear infection, though we haven't been to the doctor yet), juggling activities (such as two OTHER birthday parties on Saturday), while keeping poor Linden at home, some not-very-good sleeps at night, and the like.

Juniper's "day of multiple birthday parties" ensemble. She felt that with the puffed sleeves, she looked very much like Anne of Green Gables   

However, I did, in the end, give myself the best birthday present of all: at 9:30pm on my actual birthday, I relinquished control of my thesis, and sent it off to my supervisor.  There is still much work left to do, but a big weight has been temporarily lifted off my shoulders, which simultaneously feels very nice, and more than a little scary.

From earlier in the week: we finally got Linden the desk he had been requesting.  He likes to use it to "write songs".

 Today, I  believe there is a lot of Paw Patrol in my future.  Linden is currently on the couch, holding his ear and exclaiming "owwww!",  with snot pouring out of his nose.  Maybe I can try and convince him to watch something a little more interesting at some point, but when you're sick, binge watching TV is one of life's only pleasures, so I will ultimately defer to his wishes.

See you next week!