Birthday Weekend

Well, what a great birthday it was! This past Friday was my 27th celebration of coming kicking and screaming into this world. The last time my birthday was on a Friday, it was my 21st and it marked the beginning of Spring Break back in college. Back then, my idea of a great birthday was bar-hoping with Mommy B and some of my friends from Denison in downtown Cincinnati. And once again... my oh my how times have changed.

Since my birthday fell on a weekday this year, naturally I was at work. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not one to go broadcasting the fact that it's my birthday to everyone I see the whole week (or month) beforehand. You people know who you are... But Mommy B decided that she would bring Alli to visit me at work and broadcast it that way. We paraded the lil Ru around just about every floor of Blackbaud to visit all my former coworkers and current teammates. Then we went out to lunch together as a family. Nothing fancy, but it was great to spend time with both of them on my birthday.

That was when Mommy B told me that she had made dinner reservations for just the two of us that evening. Say what?! She not only found a babysitter for a Friday night, but one that she actually trusted enough to hand over our little angel for a couple hours! Turns out, her good friend from work was nice enough to take a couple hours out of her night off to watch Alli for us.

So I came home from work, and we immediately hopped back in the car and dropped Alli off. We then headed downtown - and I was getting excited. Our mystery destination? None other than High Cotton! We've only been there once before, and it was over three years ago when we got engaged. We walked in, gave them our name, and they led us to the little corner table facing the quaint streets of downtown Charleston. On the table was a card awaiting our arrival that read "Happy birthday Mr. Meibers - from the management and staff of High Cotton" I thought that was rather nice of them, considering how much I knew we were about to spend for dinner...

I'm not going to go into every single detail about the meal, but there were a couple interesting moments. The food was fantastic, of course - I would expect nothing less from one of the most upscale restaurants in all of Charleston. For those of you who have never been to High Cotton - this is the type of place that refolds your napkin into a random animal when you get up to go to the bathroom. Kind of a big deal.

But five minutes after we sat down, we heard a familiar noise emanate from the opposite corner of the dinning room... and I'll bet that everyone who reads this blog can guess what that noise was. What's one of the most disruptive, annoying, mood-killing sounds in the world? That's right, a baby's cry. The second the baby across the room opened its mouth, Mommy B and I's ears perked up like a pack of coyotes listening for prey.

Of course, we both just looked at each other and laughed. Probably out loud. We had just gone through all this trouble to get a babysitter for our own little one so we could enjoy a peaceful, baby-free night out together... and some Yankee tourist decided to bring their little rug rat to a five-star establishment. It was almost the last place on Earth I would expect to see a baby... other than perhaps a brothel. Thanks a lot, ya jackwagon.

Luckily, the kiddo didn't make much noise the rest of the evening, and we really enjoyed the entire experience. They were even nice enough to give me a free dessert with a candle in it. Of course, getting a free dessert on a bill from High Cotton is like having them comp the CD player after just buying a Bentley. Gee thanks, you're oh-so-generous. Sorry, that's my cheap side talking.

Nonetheless, it was just the perfect evening out that Mommy B and I needed. We picked up the lil Ru on our way home and called it a night. The weather was gorgeous all weekend too, which just made it an even better birthday. Sunday almost hit 80 degrees - just the right weather to go for a boat ride... which is why I did yard work instead.