bits of glitter: birthday week 2011

I've never been one to get super excited about my birthday but last year was pretty good. I got to spend the weekend away with Kris, Giada and a few friends. It was also one year ago that I got my camera that I am still in love with.

This year, since my cousins were visiting, planning anything for my birthday was out of the question. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I got to spend a lot of time with them so I thought that was a pretty good gift. In addition, Kris and Giada got me a new fishing pole and Le Creuset baking dish. Maybe that doesn't sound too exciting to you but I have been in search of a good lasagna pan for some time and I was not about to spend what they were asking for the super deep one I found a a while back. Le Creuset......not too shabby :) Now it just needs to get broken in. What will it be? Lasagna? bread pudding? fritatta? hmmmm.... As for the fishing pole, well that is quite a story.

I grew up getting dirty but I had never been camping or fishing until I met Kris. The first time I was ever in command of a fishing pole, I caught a sunny. I was all smiles and so excited. Kris helped me get the hook out of it's mouth and then we threw it back in. Sadly, the poor little guy didn't make it. I saw a small fish floating near us and when I showed Kris, he broke the news that it was my fish. Way to go, Heather. First time out and you're killing them. So much for catch and release. The rest of that summer, we went fishing as often as we could. The apartment we had was within walking distance of the river so we'd go after work. I used one of Kris's old poles. It was rigged and occasionally, we'd have to fix something or other on it. It didn't matter though because I loved fishing.

A few weeks ago, while I was at a baby shower for a friend, Kris took Giada for her first fishing outing. She's been asking to go and has mastered her squeamishness of worms so it time to try. Her first day out, she caught a few sunnies and Kris pulled in a 12" bass. Knowing she enjoyed it, we all went again and this time, we rented a rowboat. I got to try out my new pole and outside of Giada's lack of concentration ( she'd ignore the bobber and we'd end up reeling in fish on her line), we had a great day together.

The day of my birthday was also Father's Day this year. Since we'd spent a lot of fun time hanging with family all week, we decided to catch up on yard work and then enjoyed a few glasses of sparkling white wine as Giada checked us for any apparent ailments.

The hummingbirds are coo-coo for the feeder this season and most of them have gotten used to humans being around by now so we get quite a show each day. They fight over who can use the feeder at any given time and they'll dive bomb each other in effort to get their turn.