27... wiser and spoiled too!

Man I am spoiled. I already have more than I need. My girls and husband and a warm place to live, who needs more than that. Apparently I do because I got a sewing machine and a piano for my birthday! Yes. I told Luke there is no way that I can tell people I got both of those for by birthday and he said "Yes, I can." So I guess it is the truth, so there you go. I am super excited for both.
All I ask for now is that Rick is right that 27 years is when you gain all your wisdom and not 47 years like he was unsure about. I can't wait for 20 more years to be wise. That would be 27 years of being unwise and that just won't do. Earlier in the week, two ladies in the ward (Heather, Anna) were so nice to surprise me and take me to Chili's for dessert and to get to know each other.

I got my piano delivered on Saturday from a nice guy on Craigslist 45 minutes away for a whopping $100. I have named the piano Black Beauty, inspired by others' suggestions because I haven't really named anything before, because of the story Black Beauty. Pretty much, just like the horse, this piano is an awesome beautiful instrument that has been abused and been through a lot, and now its rescued, cleaned up, and in a home that will love it. (Note the birthday cards on top, thank you to everyone who thought of me on my birthday. I need to be be better at doing that.) This picture is after I took 2 hours of elbow grease (muscle) and furniture polish to rub off all the white paint scuffs, dried gooeyness, and food galore. The close up shows you better of the water damage and abuse the wood has taken. Maybe refinishing is in Black Beauty's future? I will probably put $200 into tuning and repairing it to get it up to par. That way I can stay in my budget I hope. I am really fortunate to have made friends with a piano tuner here who helped me scour Craigslist for the right candidate for my cheap budget but still have beautiful sound. We love it already and Luke and Gracie have had 2 mini lessons and are doing excellent. Today I played Chariots of Fire, Tea for Two, and Time in a Bottle and Gracie came running in from watching a show to play with me. Katie was already on my lap. AND I LOVE IT! If you do not play the piano you would not understand but there is just some special connection, it is truly like a romantic connection with your fingers and the keys and the sound that comes out that is so soothing and provides so much solace. I love it. I played "Olive Tree" and the spirit was so strong in me and my house. I love music and I love the piano. I hope that I can get my skills back and more in the 7 years I have not played.

On my birthday, I woke up to this...
Then we took a easy day, played the piano, did laundry, didn't have to work because of MLK (thankyou), and then we went to Chilis for a free dessert again that night.


Then on Wednesday... Gracie wanted to make me cupcakes. So she made them Pink Lemonade Cupcakes (interesting) by adding koolaid to the cake and then lemon frosting. Gracie decorated them too. Katie learned how to blow and that was probably the best memory during my birthday. She was stinkin' cute. That is why there is so many pictures. Now Katie says "Haaaawwwt" in addition to dad and yeah all the time. Love it.

27 is a great birthday! Thanks to everyone who made it so special for me, including phone calls, cards, emails, FB messages. I feel very grateful to have my health, my family and friends (old and new), and my testimony that God loves me, He has a plan for me, and that life is short so we need to try our best to do our best to love other people and become more Christlike each and every day. Here is to being 27, 37, 67, 77, and I don't 97 too. It's a good age!