A pretty much perfect day

As I see it, there are a lot of disadvantages to having a birthday during the winter solstice. It's just too close to Christmas and the celebration always has a red and green patina. For example, birthday present are sometimes wrapped up in Christmas paper. No one want to eat cake because they are sweeted out on homemade caramels and pistachio bark. And everyone is more excited about upcoming Christmas and the last few things that need to be done to properly celebrate a birthday.

Plus, there's so little light, and it's cold. You can't do much outside. I would much rather have a birthday during the summer solstice.

But, it is easy to find a babysitter on the 23rd. And for someone who prefers a quiet day alone to a big birthday lunch, it works out pretty well.

This was my day:

I get out of bed at 7:30, waking when the boys do, and then head to the gym without the kids since AJ didn't have to be to work until 9. After I get home, I shower and ready while MJ is still asleep--MJ+T seems to be trouble 75% of the time. At 10:30, I pick up the babysitter, a sweet girl from the ward who lives nearby. She is young enough that babysitting is fun for her and she still has a babysitting bag loaded with activities.

Then, I'm off. My first stop? I have to drop off AJ's laptop that he forgot, but it's pretty quiet at his office so he actually has some time to chat. Next, I head to my favorite part of the city where there are lots of interesting shops and restaurants. I find parking easily and go to browse around a great used indie bookstore. Because my to-be-read pile at home is huge, I mostly just look around, but end up leaving with a cookbook I've been wanting to try. We're going to have their green beans with pinenuts for Christmas dinner. I stop by the nice grocery store on the corner where I've parked to pick up some good bread. The baguettes in the market near our house are too fluffy and soft.
Then, to lunch at an amazing cafe and bakery where I relax and read while I eat my lunch of a chipotle goat cheese quesadilla and diet coke, with a ginger cookie for dessert. When you order, instead of getting the number on a stick that most places use to find you when your meal is ready, this place have made collages of interesting things. Last time I ate there, I got Satie, which is fine, but no personal favorite of mine, but yesterday, I am thrilled to get Ira Glass to wave down my food for me. I am reading an engrossing book, so I just linger over lunch for a while.

I stop by an interesting shop to browse around and walk out with two small globes that I will hang from the ceiling in my book corner. And then I stop by the cheese store to buy some goat cheese topped with dried fruit that we will bring to our Christmas Eve dinner, provided that the blizzard warnings don't spoil our plans.

Then, it was back to my town to stop by the grocery store for all the food we need for the rest of the week. It was crowded and I was grateful several times over to not have the kiddos with me. Before heading home, I picked up the latest Harry Potter movie from Redbox because we never saw it this summer.

The babysitter refuses payment, saying it is a birthday gift, and I suspect that it is her mother's idea, which she confirms, but still refuses to let me pay her.

AJ is soon home and we open presents, which include books! and my two favorite movies of the year.

And then, we all go to dinner at Punch, serving wood fired Italian style pizza. Yum! My favorite resturant in our town. An added bonus is that an 800 degree oven cooks pizza very quickly, before the kids get restless.

We drive home in the snow, looking at all the lights. Counting the houses with lights keeps the kids happy, so there is no squabbling from the back seat.

After AJ gets the kids into bed and we pick up around the house, we pull out the sofa bed and settle down to watch Harry battle against the evil powers of the universe and try to deal with teenage angst.

A very lovely day indeed.