Todd went to work, and I stayed home, but I didn't tell him. I cleaned up everything I could, and went grocery shopping for dinner. I even had to go to the state liqueur store to get some wine to cook with, and it was strange. I didn't know that they didn't open until 10:00, so I got there about 10 minutes early. But I wasn't the only one waiting for the "Closed" light to go off and the door to be unlocked… I felt awkward, like I was a hard core alcoholic or something. But I just needed some cheap wine to cook with!! Anyway, while I was home getting everything ready, the stinker head Todd came home in between jobs. It was lame. But it wasn't to big of a deal, I just moved all food out of the way and told him he couldn't go in the kitchen.
Later, I picked Todd up from work and brought him his biggest present.
It was a pot that I picked out for him, but I knew it was the wrong kind. So on the way home we stopped by Bed Bath & Beyond to exchange it for the one he wanted (luckily, I had just found our B B & B gift card from our wedding that still had almost $90 on it, plus I had a 20% off coupon. Otherwise I would have paid almost $200 dollars for it!!! ouch.)
When we got back, Todd read me the instructions for his new cast iron pot while I finished preparing in the kitchen,
then he went and showered, and I set up our computer on the table. I had planned to watch his gnocchi episode and make the dish together (I know Todd already knows how, but I thought to have the episode would be fun.) Unfortunately, the computer decided to be extremely slow, and we ended up making dinner without it. oh well. But it was still a lot of fun! and we enjoyed just being together.
We ate at a very fancy place setting, and drank some sparkling cider. Our gnocchi turned out so good, it was the lightest pasta I have ever had, very very light and fluffy, and delicious!!! We also had some nice candles and some music to set the mood. (A quick note about the music- I had been working for a month on a playlist of good love songs for Todd's birthday- but THE DAY BEFORE my entire iPod got erased. I was pretty upset- mostly because my iPod was now useless to me, but also because I had nothing for Todd's birthday and no time to make a new list. I cried. But I called my little sister Lauren, and she was so nice and spent over an hour putting a new playlist together for me. I just stopped by my parents' house while I was out earlier in the day, plugged it in and downloaded the list. It worked great. THANKS Lauren!!!!)
Of course, after dinner it was present time!!! I had worked hard for about three (maybe more) weeks to get Todd things that he would love. The T-shirt I got him, I ordered from a catalogue, and it was supposed to ship one week before Todd's birthday to give it enough time to arrive. I called on the 17th (only two days before), and it was still sitting in their warehouse! I talked to a manager, explained I needed it for my husband's birthday, and she was nice enough to send it 2nd day shipping, for no extra charge. But that was a close one! Unfortunately, I also ordered some Josh Groban CD's on Borders.com, and they said to expect shipping within 3-8 days. Well, I ordered them 9 days before Todd's birthday, and I still don't have them. lameo! Otherwise, Todd got a meat thermometer, an oven thermometer (our oven is about 10,000 years old- who knows how accurate it is!), 2 bricks of parmesean cheese imported from Parma (Todd served there for a little while on his mission), some VERY nice tongs from William's Sonoma, and also a DVD that Todd REALLY wanted from Deseret Book about modern evidence of Lehi's journey to the promised land. (THANK YOU Grandma for helping me with that one!). His last gift was a cute little fondue pot with some different flavored chips (chocolate, peanut butter, and white chocolate). When he opened that one, I brought out a plate with some angel food cake, strawberries, and marshmallows to dip in it. He made a mixture of the chips and let it melt, while he put in the video and watched some of it. Then we had our fondue and watched a movie.
This was my favorite present, when it comes to wrapping. Isn't it cute?
I put dry markers in the box with the movie so he couldn't guess what it was, even if he shook it
Unfortunately, after all our food and fondue, we were to full to eat Todd's birthday cake. Before dinner however, I took some pictures of it just for fun. Later I learned this was a very good idea. After school on Thursday, Todd came home and ate a big piece! He didn't even let me come home and sing to him with all the candles lit. I was sad. But he said it wasn't his birthday anymore so it shouldn't matter. But I don't think that way! So when I got home, I lit all the candles anyway and singed him the song. I suppose at least it was memorable!
