Of birthday and bikes and cupcakes and art and shoes....

This was a big weekend for the Berger household...lots of events and celebration and cupcakes.  First up, I spent Friday evening with many good friends at MOCSA's Young At Art Event which was a combination cocktail party, art auction and concert.   I, along with a couple of my favorite ladies, were volunteers and my role that evening was Bid Police.  (I actually used a far more colorful term to describe myself that starts with b and ends with itch, but then I realized I'm far too classy to call myself that publicly.) 

Essentially, they set my friend Elizabeth and I loose with Sharpies and a mandate to ensure all patrons were following the bid rules.  It was slow going at first...not a lot of bid infractions...in fact, at one point, we begged some friends to make illegal bids just so we could whip out The Official Bid Infraction Marker.  However, as the wine flew, people got a little more creative with their bids and kept us busy.

My mom and her 'neighborhood ladies' also were at the event, both to show their support for a fellow neighbor who works at MOCSA and in my mom's case, because The Elders were playing and she's something of a groupie of theirs.  (Case in Point: She and my dad at one point contemplated a trip to Ireland to follow The Elders on tour).  I've always known my mom was cool, but I think she impressed my friends with her hipness AND apparently I must have left too soon because rumor has it she was on the dance floor.  Scandalous!  In any event, it was a great evening for a great cause.  It was one of the first events I've been to since I transitioned out of fundraising/event planning and wow, does it feel good to not be the one in charge. :)

Saturday, I was awoken at the crack of dawn by darling husband...he wants to compete at the Rapture in Misery mountain bike race in September and wanted me to join me him on a trip to check out the course.  (Ed. note: the race organizers should really reconsider their marketing...who wants to compete in a race with 'misery' in the name?)  Because it was his birthday weekend, I obliged.  The course was (darn!) too difficult for me to try, so I got to sit in the shade and read.  Nick did great for his first time and cleared the 9 mile course in about 1 hr 20 minutes which was less than he had estimated.  He'll have to do the course two times at the race, so this was good practice.  After he burned 1,850 calories (I KNOW!) and I burned about 6 calories while reading, we had a picnic lunch by the lake. 

The most exciting part of the trip for me was driving through Jamesport, Missouri - home of the largest Amish settlement in Missouri.  We saw several Amish men in their austere clothing working at the lumberyard and even more exciting, several horse and buggies.  I begged Nick to take me to the Amish shops...but he reminded me that we had a birthday party to attend.  I spent the rest of the trip home looking up Amish facts and sharing them with Nick, something I have no doubt he very much appreciated, though it was difficult speaking over the radio as he kept turning the volume up higher and higher.

Saturday evening, my parents hosted a joint birthday party for Nick's 32nd birthday and my Grandma Courtney's 104th and we got to see all of the Courtney/Hill clan.  Grandma was showered with gifts and cake and cupcakes...she's a pretty incredible lady so it was wonderful to celebrate that.  Our local paper did a feature on her and I can't wait to get my hands on the photo they used.   But more on her another time...she deserves a whole post of her own.  Nick didn't fare too badly that evening either and left with several gifts and bottles of wine that I have already laid claim to.

Today, Nick got up uncharacteristically early...probably because it was his official birthday and we have sort of an unwritten rule or doctrine, if you will, that the birthday girl or boy gets the royal treatment on their birthday/week...and sometimes, month.  Nick was a benevolent dictator this year, so we had a quick lunch and then enjoyed what has become a birthday tradition...new tennis shoes at New Balance (thanks to my mom and dad for the gift card!).  He's currently out riding his bike again, so I'm trying to catch up on laundry and other stuff around the house and plan to make my darling hot sauce loving husband - these for dinner.

Lest you think this was a post not brought to you by the letters I, V, and F...a quick update!  We are officially in IVF The Sequel and will begin injections mid-September.  I had an appointment on Friday and everything looks good, so please commence finger and toe crossing, m'kay?

Hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as we did...