Thirty FIVE

Today is my true love's 35th birthday. (Yeah, I know what you're thinking!) Anyway, I got him a card before I left for him to open when he woke up today since I wouldn't be there. The point of the card was to lead him on a scavenger hunt to find his present. It was the only way I could think of to surprise him with solo birthday fun.

The card instructed him to go to the spare pillows in the linen closet to find his next clue. I used sticky name-tags (the ones that say HELLO!) to write the clues that would eventually lead to the prize. The linen closet clue read, "hi sweetie! Sorry there's nothing here, but go to the highest cupboard in the kitchen"...which led to, "dear Billy, you're almost there, but first you have to go to the pantry and find Rachael Ray." In the pantry he had to find the bottle of Rachael Ray's EVOO, and on the back of it was the next hint, "Oops! Nothing here either! You better go do some laundry instead". The next sticker was attached to the bottom of the laundry basket and it said, "You're getting warmer...but you might want to go look at my clean, pretty dresses and think of me". In my closet, he pushed aside my dresses to reveal the last clue stuck to the back of the closet wall with an arrow telling him to look to the left. On the floor in the back of the closet was a little succulent plant with a miniature "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAMP!!" balloon.

He texted me after he found his present and said "GOT IT!! THAT WAS FUN!" Whoo, I am so happy he was able to follow my clues, and better yet, that he didn't find them Monday-Wednesday!

Anyway, even though he doesn't read my blog, I'd like to say, Steve, I hope your day was even a little bit special. I know you spent the entire day in bed listening to the scrapes and bangs of the roofers, and dreading your first step towards that downward spiral staircase headed towards your forties. But, forget all that. I love you, even if you're old...because you have the face of a 20-something, a body built for nude still-life drawings, and a very young spirit. Pretty soon the painting, roofing, repairing, cleaning, unpacking, organizing, and settling will all be over and we will actually sleep, live, and breathe in peace. You are the most wonderful man in the world, and I am absolutely certain that you are going to be even more amazing at age 35 than you were at even 25. And most of all, I am very, very excited to get our cozy condo set up just how we like it and spend every day with you. In your words, it's going to be "hella fucking cool". I love you!