Happy Belated Birthday, Yobo

There he is.  The father of my unborn children.  I purposely made this picture smaller to avoid any embarrassment that Jason might face in the future, but this picture is just too good.  I can't decide what's best about it.  The fact that he is clearly unhappy that I'm taking his picture, last season's long johns making an appearance when they badly need to be thrown out, or the fact that he's only wearing one slipper.  What's up with that, anyway?

Anyway, on April 11, 2010, Jason turned 26.  He's not one for huge birthday celebrations, but since we weren't able to spend his birthday together last year, I insisted that we do something a little special.  I asked him what he wanted for his "Birthday Dinner," which consisted of breaded chicken strips dipped in Teriyaki, white rice (because I usually make him eat brown rice), some Shrimp and Veggie Soup, and his favorite pie.

Yes, that is a giant votive candle in the middle of Jason's birthday pie.

Even though I'd offered to make something a little more special for Jason's birthday, he very humbly asked for his chicken strips and rice, to which I gladly obliged.  Overall, it was a very uneventful birthday.  We ate dinner quietly, and I busted out the only candle I could find and some sparklers that I had lying around to sing "Happy Birthday" to him by myself.  We ate a lot of pie, talked a little bit about our days, and 15 minutes in to watching "A Gentleman's Agreement," he was asleep on my couch and we called it a night.

Jason blowing out his giant birthday candle.

And you know what?  It was a great night.  Some of my friends have given me a little flack about getting married so young, and even by the time I was 23, I'd already acquired the moniker "Grandma Grace" for never wanting to go drinking with my buddies and getting stupid at some bar.  Sure, maybe I did spend a few too many lonely nights in my little studio apartment watching weird independent movies and smelling my neighbor's weed smoke wafting through the hallway- I'll fully admit that.  

But Jason's birthday was an example of how I get to be a boring person with another boring person for the rest of my life... and how great is that?  To be completely at ease and content with someone you love, who has no expectations, but lives with great expectancy of what good things are to come.  Someone who is totally cool (okay, maybe compliant is a better word) to you taking a somewhat unflattering picture of them in their long underwear with only one slipper on.  Someone whose only birthday wish is to hang out with his kooky fiance and eat some chicken strips and pie.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jase.  Here's to all the Banana Cream Pie, chicken strips, and rice you could possibly consume in our future long life together!

Oh... and you didn't think I'd leave you hanging without a few more shots of that pie!  Home made, baby!  Look at that crust crimping!  The Oreo topping was Jason's idea.