Happy 27th to Marcus!

Wow. I am married to a twenty-seven year old. The number sounds old, but Mark sure doesn't seem that way. I can't figure out if it's because I'm so mature, or because he's so immature. Neither one seems accurate. I guess it's mostly because we have reached the point where the number becomes a little meaningless. In fact, I had to do some serious thinking to figure out how old we were both becoming this year; factored in when I graduated, the year we got married, etc. etc.

But that doesn't mean that birthdays are meaningless. Who doesn't secretly love a day that celebrates them?

Well Mark doesn't. Birthdays/holidays are generally a bit stressful for me; I love a big party and hoopla, while he prefers quiet togetherness. It's hard to decide which to go for. Should I do what I think would be awesome, and just tell him to get used to it, or do I celebrate in a more simple way? This year I think we reached a pretty good mix of the two: I secretly stuffed his backpack with confetti, and then while he was in class I enlisted Angel (our friendly security guard) to help me decorate the gym for Mark's lunch break. (He works there between classes.) The crowning decoration ended up being the statement written on the white board: "It is your birthday." (Office!) I then hustled back home and baked and sliced and diced, and returned with burritos, fruit, and a heaping plate of Raspberry Supreme. Wonderful Jeff got the word out to his classmates, and we sung happy birthday and scarfed. Quite precious.

Brotha James (a.k.a. Santiago) bought an ice cream cake. Mark ate it all by himself after I had left. I suppose I shouldn't be mad about that.


That evening we pulled out our lovely new grill for the second time ever and had a feast! Salmon, BBQ chicken, asparagus, peppers, zuchini, and pineapple ... ended up being the best meal we'd had in quite some time. To top it all off, I gave him a new white Sunday shirt and we watched the final four on the Biggest Loser. (WHY did Michael win??)

It was a good day. Love you Marcus, hope I'm getting better at making all your birthday wishes come true.