Let me just start by saying I’m probably the most spoiled wife/daughter/friend ever existed on planet Earth. My husband made the entire month of August Selina’s birthday month. :) Ri has waited until this month to get me a new phone and ‘coincidentally’ my 5.5 years old laptop had decided to die on me, so then my parents got me a new laptop. My brother and parents called from the hospital to say happy birthday, and my other parents (Ri’s mom and dad) called to wish their little daughter happy birthday, too. Friends had gathered in my honor to a good sit down Italian meal, and my best friend Ling Ling went to see caribous and moose and beavers with me in a wildlife park. After all these and some good snuggling sessions with my kitties, ah, this is what hearts full of love feels like.
Birthday celebration part 1- Broadway Sister Act at the Paramount Theater
Lights flickered. PA comes on: “Ladies and gentlemen, any recording of the performance is a sin. Please kindly turn off all of your pagers and cell phones so it is to not interrupt the show. Can I get an amen?”
It was hilarious even before the show even started! It wasn’t a Broadway show on my list, but it seemed like it would be something fun to do. The singing was excellent and the script was much more comical than we expected. Even Ri enjoyed it tremendously! During the very first number of Delores singing with 2 background vocalists, Ri turned to me and said “this is just like Hercules”! (which is his all time favorite Disney movie)
Here is a little clip if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0InYv_5uWak
Birthday celebration part 2- Tropea Ristorante Italiano
Since my birthday fell on a Monday this year, we decided to have the annual dinner party the night before in this homey Italian restaurant that Phil highly recommended. I must say I was 70% full before we even ordered because they give you this bread and olive oil and herbs sauce that is SO YUMMY! Thank you all who came to celebrate my birthday with me, Ling Ling, Phil, Leslie, Rose, Jax, Theresia, Philip, Jon, Sarah, Dennis, Winston, you are my closest friends! Thank you for showering me with your gifts and love.
Birthday celebration part 3- Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
Ling Ling is as always my partner in crime on this daring adventure! I have not heard of this park until last month Ri took me to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and on the back of our ticket stubs were coupons for buy one get one free Northwest Trek Wildlife Park entrance. Tickets were on the pricey side so it was good that two got in for the price of one, not that it made a difference to me because the generous Ling Ling never let me paid anything on my birthday (literally, she bought my sandwich for lunch, took me to Starbucks to get my free birthday coffee, and even brought desserts with her so we can enjoy chocolate/custards in the park). What we didn’t know was that the park has a tram tour that takes us to see all the herbivores on the free roaming area! There were herds of bisons, big horn rams, black tailed deer, caribous, and Roosevelt elks! We saw one giant moose, I wonder if their mouth is really as soft and mushy as they look. Hehe. It was comforting knowing there are undisturbed habitats of 725 acres like this for animals to be protected, and just to think this was someone’s backyard!
We learned that during bison rut/mating season, the free roaming area smells like a public men’s washroom, because it smells like urine and pine sol. You know, I have never seen a beaver or a badger and I saw both at the park! Beaver’s tail is so ODD looking, it looks like someone stuck a spatula onto a crawling teddy bear. We also saw coyotes and a sleeping lynx and a sleeping bear! Here is Ling ling’s blog on this trip: http://llzheng87.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/golden-birthday/
Then we headed back to Puyallup have comfort food Pho with hubby!
I’ve been telling Ri that I want to open a present on my birthday, something wrapped with ribbons. It is more like a training exercise because Ri is horrible at keeping a gift secret. Two weeks before our first Christmas, he called and asked if I have any snowboarding gloves, and when I answered no he said “good, cuz I just got you snowboarding gloves for Christmas”. You see what I mean. But as the day draw closer and closer, I just don’t think he is capable of finding something and keep it a secret. Anyway, after a suspenseful dance all through the birthday celebrations, we come to this moment. He said, here unwrapped this! LOL.
Haha, Ling Ling said that husbands are the best presents!
I woke up after a really bad dream during that early morning, maybe it was 4 or 5am, but as soon as I realized I am awake, I shook Ri who was sound asleep besides me, “Richard Richard IT’S MY BIRTHDAY”! He jolted awake thinking something bad was happening like maybe my joints were hurting or there’s an earthquake, then he fluffed his pillow and said “Happy birthday honey” and took me in his arms, then we fell asleep for a few more hours. :) The same night, after a whole day of adventure walking around in the park, I was exhausted, but I wanted to stay awake until midnight so I can savor the last few hours of my birthday so to speak. It didn’t happen. LOL. I guess that’s being one year older there for you!