Happy Birthday to Me!

I am a HUGE baby about my birthday. I love my birthday and want it celebrated to the nth degree every year. It's the one day each year that I don't feel guilty about being completely selfish. My wonderful husband knows this about me and not only does he put up with it, he feeds my birthday bliss compulsion. Every year he plans something more fun than the last. There was the year he arranged for some friends to take me out, then they delivered me back home after a wonderful supper to a surprise party complete with decorations! Another time he swept me away to a spa day in the city. I honestly don't know how he manages to come up with something every year. This year he put the icing on the cake (pun intended)!

On Tuesday, I left school an hour early so that Jason could whisk me off to OKC. We headed first to Rocktown, an indoor climbing facility housed in an old silo. Now, I have never been rock climbing (been boulder scrambling, but that's a whole different ball game) and though I was excited about trying, I was also worried about a few things. Let's face it, I'm not the most physically fit that I've ever been! Would I embarrass myself by not even making it off the ground? Would they even have climbing gear for chubs like me? If I fell, would my superior body weight yank my husband off the ground and catapult him to the top of the silo as he tried to belay me? Still, I'll try almost anything once, so I pulled up my big girl panties, pasted on a smile, and prepared to make the best of it. Guess what? The harness fit me, the staff did not measure, weigh, or laugh at me, and the other climbers did not gawk at my rather un-streamlined body. Jason and I geared up, then headed into the training room to take the required beginners' course. Morgan, our instructor, showed us the ropes (haha, I've got a million of 'em) and asked us which one of us wanted to belay first. My mind quickly calculated the options. I could climb first and risk humiliation by showcasing my incompetence...OR, I could belay first and watch Jason risk humiliation from the safety of the ground. Bingo! Option 2, belaying it was! Turns out belaying is tricky. Not difficult, mind you, just has more of a procedure than simply ascending a wall. There are a series of commands for the belayer and climber to use. The belayer has to learn how to clip the rope through their harness and through the floor cable, the proper way to take slack out of the line as the climber climbs, the "brake" hold, and how to operate the release apparatus on the belay device so that the climber will be lowered to the floor rather than dropped (sorry, honey, I couldn't remember which way was "slower" and which way was "faster"). Jason looked like a spider monkey as he scaled the wall easily, but I had to have four practices to get belaying down pat.
Then it was my turn. My nervousness had dissipated and sure enough, climbing proved to be easier than belaying. Jason practiced twice, then we were on our own. We had a great time and spent two hours trying all of the easier routes we could find. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I not only like rock climbing, I LOVE it!

Next Jason took me to the Warren theater in Moore. We sat in the balcony in cushy, recliner-like seats with seat warmers! We had a little table and a call button to summon our waitress. Yes, our WAITRESS...Jason and I just ordered popcorn and soda, but a full menu was available. We were presented with 3-D glasses. Not cardboard ones, but "real" glasses that we were to return after the show. We moved the armrest so we could snuggle and watched "Avatar" in 3-D. It was amazing.

After checking in to the Radisson, we walked a couple of blocks to Abuelos for a late supper before turning in. The next day was my actual b-day, so Jason let me sleep in. Then we went to the mall where he picked out my gift: a beautiful James Avery, 3 carat, garnet ring! A fabulous lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, quick stop at Hobby Lobby, visit to friends at Children's Hospital, and then we were headed home.

I can't WAIT to see what he comes up with next year!