Last night we met two couples at a nearby restaurant to continue my husband's big birthday celebration. My husband was actually the one to arrange it. Hubby is a real holiday/event enthusiast, and I guess he wanted something at least a little bit like a party. I guess for a husband's big birthday, many wives throw big parties, but I just can't.

One of the couples arrived exactly on time. The other couple was one and a half hours late. Ugh! The on-time couple was the one I felt most comfortable with. The male of that couple is my husband's long-time friend that I've known and liked for years. He brought his girlfriend, who turned out to be very pleasant and enjoyable to talk to. She works on documentaries. The other, late arriving couple, consisted of hubby's female boss and her boyfriend. I must confess that I felt nervous around them. The boyfriend even made a couple of obnoxious remarks directed at me for no good reason. I had never even met the guy before. I started to sweat a bit and felt on the verge of an anxiety attack, but I held it together with smiles and did my best to contribute to the conversations. The boss and her beau left first. I was glad.

My dad called on Saturday. Hubby picked up. I did not want to talk to him given what I've written previously, but I kind of had no choice. Luckily he didn't sound drunk. I decided to just talk about pleasantries and leave it at that. Dad clearly knows that his behavior has been severely stressful for me. On his vmx days back, he said he loved me twice. He told my husband on the Saturday call he loved me. Then he told me again that he loved me, twice. I told him that of course I love him. I didn't mention anything like a "but..." The call ended, and I was relieved.

In preparation for the above-mentioned guests for hubby's extended birthday celebration, I really put some major elbow grease into super cleaning the house. My house is usually always basically clean and tidy, but there are always things that are not super cleaned. At the end of Saturday, I told hubby I was so exhausted that I felt I would die. I survived. Then yesterday, I did even more cleaning and preparations. The guests left at about 10:30 pm. I still feel physically and mentally spent.

This Wednesday and Thursday, I have evening adult school classes. The Wednesday is a cake decorating class. The Thursday class is a flower arranging class. I think it will be my sixth or seventh flower arranging class. I love that class, and really like the instructor. I always enjoy chatting with the women who take it. Flower arranging has turned out to be a hidden talent I never knew about until a few years ago. It boosts my self-esteem. Then at the end of the class, you have a lovely arrangement to take home. It will be a Christmas arrangement. To date, the only Christmas-type decoration we have is a wreath for our front door.