January and the Birthday Bummer/Blessing

January is like the black sheep of the family.  No one likes it.  Everyone would be happier if it just went away. I feel the same way, but it’s also my birthday month.  Lucky me.

 My birthday this year was quite the story.  It started with some crazy snow on Tuesday. So, just as usual in the Northwest all hatches were battened down, schools closed, and work was sketchy.  By Wednesday, people were mostly staying home from work, too.

The first snow day is always full of gleeful children frolicking in the snow, making snow forts, snowmen, sledding and hot chocolate by the fire.  It was all very Norman Rockwell.

Wednesday morning Bill suggested that we invite the bishop and his family over for breakfast.  I didn’t think much of it.  People were home from work, friends were mingling.  But, just as breakfast was over, Bill and Jerry (bishop) sat Kami (bishop’s wife) and I down in the dining room and presented us with plane tickets to Miami and a cruise to the Bahamas, for that VERY DAY!  Our plane was to leave at about 1 pm.  We were shocked!  The guys had taken care of even detail from child care to seminary subs!  What an amazing birthday gift!

We parted ways to go pack for the trip as fast as we could.

Bill had been watching the weather for the past few days and wasn’t too worried because it looked like the snow was supposed to turn to rain that day (Wednesday), unfortunately it was wrong.  The snow continued to fall all morning very heavy.  We found out at about 11am that our flight had been cancelled.  Bill and Jerry tried jumping through every hoop they could fine to get us re-routed, new flights, etc, etc, but it wasn’t to be.  The trip had to be cancelled.  Huge birthday bummer.

I unpacked.

By about noon we were without power, too.

But now for the blessing part.

Ethan woke up feeling sick that morning, so it was probably better that he didn’t have to go over to the Buckley's when we left for the airport and infect them all, too.

Cute story:  When Ethan found out we weren’t going to be able to go I heard him up in his room crying and crying.  I went up there and asked him what was wrong.  He said, “I’m so sad that you can’t go.  It’s your birthday and it’s ruined now”.  I told him it was ok and there would be other opportunities and we’d make my birthday fun anyway.  He said, “but it’s all my fault!!”  I said, “no it’s not, things just happen, it’s no ones fault.”  He kept insisting that it was his fault, so I asked him why he thought that.  He said, “last night when I wasn’t feeling very good and I didn’t want you to go away for 4 days I asked Heavenly Father in my prayer that your trip would be cancelled and that you wouldn’t be able to go, so it’s all my fault!!”.  Poor kid. He melted my fridged January heart with that one.

Andy had been grumpy for about 3 days straight, prior to the trip, and I couldn’t figure out why.  He had been keeping this secret about the Bahamas and hadn’t been very happy about it.  For some reason it was making him nervous for us to leave this time. Not sure why. So he, also, was very happy we were staying. I felt the relief flow off him like melting snow. (do you like my January themed metaphors....or is it similes?)

Then the power went out.

We happen to have a generator. Got one after the big storm of '07. (I sound like an old-timer). Of course we have it hooked up the the furnace, but after that Bill and the boys made quite sure that the TV and the computers both worked! Nice.

Anyway, back to the story...The plan was to send the kids to the Buckley's for the first day of our trip, then Marne was to pick them up for the remainder of the time. Well, the Buckley's don't have a generator and we do. So instead of both our kids and their family freezing cold and bored at the Buckley's house that day, we ended up inviting them to OUR house for dinner and spent the rest of the evening watching Mythbusters and playing games.

It turned out to be a fun birthday evening.

Bill asked me what I would like for my birthday dinner and I thought breakfast for dinner would be really good on a cold winters evening with limited power. Our oven wasn't hooked up, but with the help of our gas stove and a few lanterns to help us see, (limited lighting with a generator.....but hey, the TV worked!), we cooked up a pretty tasty breakfast/dinner. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I also made a quick run to Safeway (where they were also on generator power) and bought myself a impromptu birthday cake so we could celebrate. Nothing like buying your own birthday cake!

But I was very glad that the kids were safe and warm that evening and we could help out the Buckley's as well. Another blessing of a cancelled trip.

So all in all, it wasn't a total loss that our trip was cancelled. In fact, I think it was supposed to be. Perhaps we'll get to the Bahamas another time.