And then there was the time I lit myself on fire

On Tuesday I turned 31. Yes, I'm officially in my 30's. So far so good. Chris had to take Peter and Isabel to the airport that day so it was just me and Little Miss I Can Get Into All Sorts of Trouble (I still have a good one to share), but everyone sang me Happy Birthday at breakfast which was nice of them.

I decided to take the day off and not do anything I didn't want to. It worked out well for me :) I did some gardening. Olivia did some playing in the mud. I slipped down three stairs on my butt and crunched my back, which wasn't so fun, but I survived and get to see my chiropractor on Saturday. Chris came home at an early afternoon hour and made me supper (yummy curried chicken with raisins and apples) while I had a nice cool soak in the tub, which I'm discovering is one of the best things you can do when it's too humid to think. We had a huge rain that night which cooled everything off. That's always nice for sleeping sanity.

Yesterday we had plans to go to our friend Lauren's place for dinner. Lauren is the assistant general manager at Club Indigo and lives right on site. As a treat she made arrangements for us to use the pool for free for a couple of hours while she finished up her shift which was so fun since it's been so hot. The three of us spent the entire time sitting in the wading pool. Olivia realized she could stand up and it just covered her shoulders so she had a ton of fun just walking and running around. I was so proud of her and how comfortable she is in the water. When Lauren's shift finished we headed over to her place along with Elsie, Bobi and Bobi's mom. Lauren got to work on cooking us and amazing dinner. 

Lauren literally had to bring in a stove as she eats most of her meals in the dining room.

At one point I was helping her finish up some stuff and was dealing with things in the frying pan while she did some mixing. My stomach started feeling hot so I backed away from the stove and looked down to see that my shirt was on fire. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I lit myself on fire. My shirt was a bit loose in front and it got too close to the gas burner. By now you're probably freaking out because I LIT MYSELF ON FIRE but don't worry, I'm totally fine. In fact, after dinner Lauren and I were almost peeing our pants as we talked about the whole thing. I should set the stage by telling you that Lauren had a stove brought over and put in the abandoned room next to her apartment. Think cement block room with nothing in it. It was getting dark so she had someone bring over a construction light. To say "make shift" would be an understatement. As Lauren mixed batter for the shrimp I was dealing with a few that were already in the pan. As my stomach got hot I just naturally backed away, like I do in my own kitchen. Then I looked down and very calmly said, "I'm on fire."

Lauren looked at me. Then she realized that I was in fact, on fire.

We both started blowing and patting my shirt. I did flap it around a bit too. It took seconds to get it out. The funniest thing was how calm both of us were, like I light myself on fire everyday. Oh, here I go again, lighting myself on fire. La la la. 

I went back to the apartment and iced my stomach while Lauren finished up dinner. We then sat down to a HUGE pan of Pad Thai, one of my all time favorite meals (and Lauren didn't even know), and tempura shrimp. It was SO GOOD. We ate and visited and it was wonderful. Then Lauren casually says, "There's lobster too," and a few minutes later a guy brings in a platter of lobster. PLATTER. And you know what? By the time we were done with that lobster it looked like a pack of scavengers had been through the room. 

It was a great birthday, probably one of my favorites so far. It was casual and fun and while there was no cake or candles, I did get to blow out myself and I figure that has to count for something in the whole wish making world.