Some Additional Preparations ...

As the official day for the big 4-0 birthday looms closer ... there were a few things that still needed attention. So ... Grammy picked up Talaya and we set off to check a few more things off the list.

Two more celebrations are planned! A 'family' dinner on August 26th! When Talaya asked her Mom what her favorite food might be ... she said Mexican. So, we are going to arrive at the house, order our Mexican Food from Cafe Verde rather than Mucho Burritto (because they have a sauce that the birthday girl LOVES). And, we will follow it up with some nice cheesecake ... also a favorite of the soon to be 40 year old!

We will also have her open her gifts on her official birthday! Talaya is very excited because she decided to take a whole bunch of polaroid photos of her and her brother in unique and special seating arrangements and then display them on a cork board for her Mom to enjoy!!

I thought it was such a thoughtful and loving gift idea! As a Momma myself, pictures are always a way to capture the moments in time that seem to escape so darn quickly over the years. Grammy picked up a "40" charm that the birthday girl can add to her Pandora bracelet. She has been collecting beautiful reminders of her life to add to her gorgeous charm bracelet for quite some time now.

The final celebration will be on Aug 29th. It's the last weekend before students are back to school. We were saddened to see that many of the guests we invited were unable to attend due to other commitments. We decided to shift our perspective on it though.

Talaya and I discussed that sometimes when things don't turn out the way we had hoped, it is because there is a blessing attached that we might not be able to see. We agreed to look for the good things about having a smaller, more intimate group of people. And so, we are planning to make the very best of however things turn out!

We enjoyed our time together picking up a few items we still needed. We were both feeling a little hungry so we picked up some warm, soft, freshly cooked pretzels at the "Mr Pretzel" kiosk in the mall! I had never had one before ... so ... I opted for a savory one with parmesan cheese! It was delicious!! Talaya went for the nutella one! Talaya got one of those fancy drinks (mango tea) with the tapioca balls inside it (aka 'boba'). I had never tried that either ... so ... decided to get my brave on! Gah!!! Argggghhhh. Good thing we had some napkins handy because I sucked up THREE of those balls in my little sip!! I'm not one to spit things out ... but ...I just couldn't do it. The texture of those balls is indescribably horrid. 😝

We picked up some material to drape behind the balloon arch for the photo booth. And ... we also got some long handled spoons for a game that Talaya is planning to play. She is going to make some teams and invite some friendly competition to take shape as we celebrate outdoors!

Auntie Sharon sent a beautiful PowerPoint of pictures of the birthday girl. I am having trouble finding a projector to show them on the wall outside! Fingers crossed that someone will know someone who has one we can borrow. 🤞

After our shopping was complete we made one quick stop to get a 'refresher' for Talaya to enjoy while I sipped my wine when we got home for happy hour. Talaya ordered the Pinkety Drinkety at Starbucks and offered me a sip in the car. I wasn't brave enough to take it until we got home. I wasn't sure if it would be 'spit-worthy' or not ... so ... I wanted to get home before I let that liquid pass my palate! And so, headed back to Taber for our sleep over. We picked up something we both very much enjoy for supper! Subway!!!

Talaya loves, loves, loves loads and load of cucumbers on her sub. I love to have lots of pickles and jalapeno peppers on mine. Talaya forgot to order pickles on hers ... so, as usual with Subway ... when the contents of mine were falling out all over the place, she reached over to snaffle up what she thought was a pickle. Guess what?? It was a jalapeno instead! It didn't stay in her mouth any longer than those horrible balls stays in mine. Apparently, she thinks jalapenos are 'spit worthy'! 😂🤣

After a fews rounds of cards (Trash, Golf and War) ... we finished up our evening with a movie. Dennis the Menace provided a few good laughs for sure!

Yep. A good day was had by all. And ... the best is yet to come!! The birthday girl has been in quarantine for the last 13 days after coming home from her trip to Germany! And so, only one more sleep and Talaya gets to be reunited with her Momma. She is over the moon excited to see her again!Read more