Turning 31

31.

Yep. That's me.

My birthday was a weekend of family togetherness. We went out to the coast because the house is DONE (well, there's only one working toilet and some of the sinks aren't hooked up yet, but still DONE).

We decided that we'd spend the night out there, which was a pretty big decision to make. The last time we slept there was Mom's birthday in 2006. Dad had just been diagnosed, but things weren't terrible yet. I don't think we knew that it'd be 14 months before we spent the night again.

And now... now the house is done. It's been slept in. We laughed, we cried, we got bruises and scrapes and Peter dirtied up the kitchen magnificently.

We broke it in.

And it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday. We couldn't have had a nice, restful weekend out there- we needed to be busy and industrious. And working on the house was perfect. Peter and Mom and I cleaned and organized and moved furniture in from the garage Friday night. Mom treated us to dinner and beer at the tavern in town.

Saturday was an early wakeup call and a drive down to Tillamook to get the Uhaul and load the other half of the furniture out of our storage unit. Sis and Boyfriend as well as my unofficial Aunt D and Uncle B joined us at the house, cleaning, moving, and generally making the place habitable. We worked and worked and worked, managing to avoid serious harm to anyone.

Peter made dinner- beautiful calzones and pizza. Wine was drunk, food was eaten, company was good. Then we had presents and cake. (yay presents!)

Sunday was a half day of work (it's amazing how much dust renovation creates) and then our drives home.

That's how I spent 31. With the people who love me, at a place I love, working on a project that would make my Dad so proud. We did good.

Oh, and Dad- I blame you for all the gray hair. thanks.