A Good Birthday

I was going to let yesterday's Music Monday post be the last I mentioned of my birthday yesterday, but there were a couple of really cool things, at least to me, that happened yesterday.  Generally, I usually do not make a big deal about birthdays, not even milestone birthdays, or holidays.  Due to the fact that I don't usually make a big deal about these things, I am usually not taken by surprise.  I got a couple good ones yesterday.

See the picture in the post?  That was my birthday cake made by my sister-in-law; my wife's sister.  The bottles, including the big one in the middle of what looks like an ice bucket, are chocolate.  The ice bucket is four layers of red velvet cake covered in fondant.  The "ice" in the ice bucket are pieces of rock candy.  I was stunned when they pulled that cake out after dinner.

While the cake was impressive, my wife pulled off the biggest surprise of evening.  As she and I were walking into the restaurant to meet her family for dinner, I saw one of my best friends from high school and college in the restaurant talking with my mother-in-law.  She had looked in my cell phone while I was sleeping and looked up my friend's number and invited him to join us for the evening. 

The restaurant we went to was a local brew pub named DuClaw's.  I knew I would have a couple of beers, but for my meal I was debating whether or not to stick with my new eating plan or splurge.  I decided to go ahead and splurge by having one of their new menu items, a French Onion Kobe Beef Burger.  It was well worth it.  Of course I had to have a slice of the cake after dinner as it would have been impolite to do otherwise.

The evening ended with me calling the school to check on how my son has been doing.  He has been back at the school for two weeks.  His last week before his last break, and the two weeks since he has been back have been going well, which is a welcome relief. When I spoke to the person in the dorm, I was informed that he has been doing great.  Unfortunately, he had a small incident today where he threw his glasses and they broke.  He is due to get a new pair soon, but we found an old pair that my wife will take out to him tomorrow.