: ) means happy birthday

I pulled a little prank on Rubi for her birthday this year.

 

After bringing home donuts and bagels for breakfast, I brought in her “gift” in a small gift bag. The little kids saw me doing this and grabbed their homemade cards for her too. She happily read their cards, enjoying their creativity, then turned to the small gift bag I handed her. She opened it up to reveal possibly the dorkiest t-shirt I could find for her: a bright yellow shirt with a huge emoticon smiley on the front, the ever present “semicolon parenthesis” all over the internet to denote a happy face.

 

Rubi took it graciously. She didn’t cry, she didn’t act sad at all over getting a cruddy gift from me.

 

Then I took her to lunch at Red Lobster.

 

Later, at her parents’ house after dinner as we neared the time for her to open her present from them, Alexander and I snuck out to the van and brought in her real presents from us. I love surprising her like that!

 

The kiddos got her some stuff from a local kitchen supply store: a decorative candle-holder thing to set on the mantle or a shelf that she had pointed out to us recently, and a couple of kitchen gadget thingies she’s been saying she wanted.  I also ordered her a snazzy art book she’s been asking to get for a couple years.

 

I love putting a smile on my wife’s face. And she looks good in the dorky yellow shirt with a smile on that too!

 

 

 

: ) means happy birthday