Saturday, November 14, 2020

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken on November 13, 2007. It was Peter's birthday and that day Mattie wanted to bake a cake with me for his dad. Like Mattie, Peter is not a chocolate fan. So naturally we made an all vanilla cake! I am so happy we did this together and that I captured these photos as reminders of our life together. 

 

Quote of the day: Tonight's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• number of people diagnosed with the virus: 10,859,661
• number of people who died from the virus: 245,495

Yesterday was Peter's birthday. He worked the whole day, and I was on a marathon licensure board meeting. What Peter did not know was for two weeks I had been planning a small surprise party for him and some of his friends. The party happened to fall on his birthday, but it really was a congratulations party on becoming a president and CEO of a company. 

I held the party in my friend, Ann's backyard. While Peter was working this week, I snuck out twice to buy party supplies, set up decorations, and to make floral arrangements and the list went on. Getting Peter to Ann's last night was a feat, but I managed to pull it off without him suspecting something was up. So he was truly surprised..... as this photo captures Peter as a statue! Trying to figure out what was going on around him!

We lucked out with the weather. It was clear, crisp, but not freezing. I made five floral arrangements for the party. Sticking with a fall theme and using LOTS of mums!

It may not look it but I spent about four hours hanging gold stars and decorations from the rafters of Ann's deck. I wanted the space to twinkle. 

Peter with his cake! The cake was wonderful! Featuring both vanilla and coconut. 

I had the food catered for the small gathering. Which was great, because at this point in lock down, I am sick of cooking. 

My sunflower buffet table display! Given that I did not want people touching each others utensils, I wrapped each set with a napkin and tied it with gold ribbon. 

Love the cake! It read...... Happy Birthday Mr. President. I know if I asked Peter whether he wanted a party or not, he'd say no. So I side stepped the asking and did what I wanted to do. Which was to acknowledge Peter's achievement, all that he has survived and had to deal with as a bereaved father in the workplace, and naturally to make him feel special!