Birthday Eve

I have to confess. I LOVE birthdays! Especially when they last longer than the actual day.

Though tomorrow is technically my birthday--in case you are wondering, I'm turning 42--John, Chase, Bethany and I went out tonight to Los Lupes to celebrate. Los Lupes is a great neighborhood restaurant. Affordable Tex-Mex food and really great margaritas and guacamole. But the very best part are the cantares that are there on Tuesday nights.

The cantares sang Happy Birthday--of course, but they also handed me a pair of maracas for Guantanamera (como no, como no, como no). Bethany wasn't as thilled as I was about playing them. (But I thought it was REALLY fun!)

They also sang two really romantic songs in Spanish.

Something I didn't blog about earlier is that I lost my new wedding ring about a month ago. The one with the star. I was cooking and left them on the counter.

When I went back to get them, only the diamond ring was there. The special one--the band--was gone. We looked everywhere, but haven't been able to find it. My fear was that it was swept up with the trash and thrown away.

Tonight, John had Bethany ride with Chase to the restaurant, and when I got into the car, there was a small box on the dash. The new ring is exactly like the old one. John had the same artist carve the shooting star into it. The one I wear hidden in my palm. It feels great to have it back on my hand.

I had such a wonderful night tonight with the ring, the cantares and our whole family at dinner together, that I can't believe that my real birthday hasn't even started yet!