MeLissa's Birthday!

Today was MeLissa's birthday. We're happy to report that she has yet again managed to avoid growing older and will be, as she has been for the past several years, 25! :)

The celebration started yesterday evening with a trip to the Hawaiian restaurant. We picked up some grub and then headed over to Lisa and Rob's house. We'd not seen them for a while and we thought it would be an excellent opportunity! Their house was beautifully decorated in accordance with the "Christmas decor should be up by MeLissa's birthday directive" proving yet again that Lisa and Rob are AWESOME people! :) Lisa surprised MeLissa with a little gift containing a strawberry growing kit and a sentimental gift to remind her that Lisa loves her just the way she is. On our way home, Lisa gave one more gift - a funny book of "Catmas Carols" by Laurie Loughlin. Here's a cute one for your amusement:

We Three Cats
We three cats of Orient are
Terrified to get in the car.
Why go out for celebrating?
We'll stay right where we are. Oooh....

Home is heaven. Home is good.
Home is where we get our food.
Why go out for Christmas parties?
Frankly we're not in the mood.

We're not happy with a trip yet.
Seems they always end in the vet.
These excursions are diversions
We'd just as soon forget. Oooh....

(Repeat Chorus)

Cute huh?

As for today, it was a bit rainy (including some really pelting drops at lunch!), but other than that it was a pretty good day! This evening we celebrated by going to dinner at Red Lobster followed by dessert at Cold Stone Creamery.

Mark also was very sweet and bought MeLissa a card that he really liked because he felt it really described her to a tee!

Rainbows
are people
whose lives
are bright,
shining
examples
for others.
Maya Angelou

MeLissa really appreciates the compliment Mark gave her. She hopes to follow the directions on the inside of the card which reads

Shine on, shine on,
The world needs more people like you.

Mark also presented MeLissa with The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build or Manage a Business. (by Martha Stewart) We're guessing that Martha didn't include "Don't get caught in insider trading scandals." After all, this is pretty much common sense, right? We're looking forward to seeing what tips she has to offer despite her straying off the righteous path briefly. :)

Also, MeLissa is now the proud owner of a lovely new bracelet watch which has a two tone dial and a heart link bracelet bands with little blue crystals in the center of each heart. She help pick the watch out and she loves it!

Today was definitely a good kick off to the next year and page of MeLissa's life and she is excited to see what 2006 holds for her!