My birthday party

Well today is my birthday. We are doing a respite starting this afternoon so we all went out to eat last night.

We originally planned to go to a local pizza restaurant for which Hubby had been given a $20 voucher. (All the teachers got them. They can actually spend them at half a dozen locally owned places). Brian said that I would not like the pizza there; it was too greasy. Someone else said that it was hardly a treat since we have pizza at home all the time. Brian tried to convince everyone to go to his favorite restaurant (which was not on the voucher) because "It's Mom's birthday and we should go somewhere she would like."

There was debate. There was whining. I finally announced that I would really like to go to _________ (it's a national chain and I don't advertise).

First, the whining: we left the house at 4:20 and drove to the northwest corner of The City to drop Evan off at his relapse recovery group at 5:00pm. We then drove across to the southeast corner of The City to pick up David. We picked Evan up 15 minutes late and drove to the restaurant, arriving at 6:30. What's two hours in the car? Andrew took a nap and I frustrated entertained myself with sodoku puzzles.

The six of us had a good time. David and Evan carried on. They are very different. Evan is very butch and David is...not. David said something to the effect that "his" room probably looks different now that Evan is in it. Evan replied that the room finally has a masculine touch to it. Everyone laughed, even David. He is a sweet kid.

David is doing really well, for those who are interested. He is still working. He enjoys his job and tells me he is saving for a car. He is living a gay young man and that man's mother. It is the healthiest living arrangement, in my opinion, he has had.

The boys collectively gave me a gift certificate to a high end cooking store (another national chain). Everything there is over-priced, but I found something that I really liked that was on sale. The store was in the mall and everyone ran off to do their own thing, but David went with me. He is not interested in cooking, but he patiently investigated everything in the store. He jokingly tried to talk me into martini glasses because he thought they were pretty, but in the end agreed that the fancy saute pan was the best option...especially since it was 50% off and therefore exactly the amount of my gift certificate.

It was an idyllic evening. I got to go to dinner with all four boys (I thought a lot about Carl and how nice it would be if he were there too). Everyone had a good time.

If that last paragraph were the end of a post in one kids' stories you would be hearing ominous background music. You would know that something bad was going to happen. I started to write a paragraph assuring you that it was just a good day; it is not an omen; life is not going to suddenly get bad. But then I am leaving on vacation in a couple of weeks and Evan will be staying here alone. I'm afraid to jinx it.

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