Stuff and Things: July 2009

We recently celebrated my mom's 5*th birthday. In a rare moment, the entire family was together. The night before her big day, Luke generously offered to take mom and anyone else who was available out to lunch at a fancy downtown restaurant. The majority of us jumped at the opportunity, especially when a babysitter was offered!

We dined on gourmet pizza, pasta, and tiramisu.

Towards the end of the meal, Uncle Sam noticed that the side entrance of the restaurant had some 'secret service' looking fellows hanging around. At the prodding of curious sisters, I asked our waiter who the security detail was tailing. It turns out it was for none other than our Governor-in-Chief, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER! Yes, that Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now, anyone who knows my mom, knows that she has a major thing for our governator. (sorry dad). The man is much more than spray-tan and muscles in her eyes.

Realizing that we had the possibility of giving her the best birthday gift EVER, the girls decided to act quickly. Our waiter gave us the route and told us where to wait, so we seized the moment (and a camera) and patiently waited for Arnold to walk past us.

As he did so, we brilliantly cheered him on. One very smart girl amongst us yelled, "It's her birthday and she LOVES you, can we please take a picture!!!!?" At first, he walked right past, but something in Arnold told him that he should abandon his path to the black SUV and return to the crazed group of ladies who will never forget this moment for as long as they live:

While there are many more details (like how ALL the guys were way too cool to even look in Arnold's direction) the most important thing is that mom had such a memorable birthday.

Mom, you deserve an Arnold sighting every day of the year.

*This post was written with the express verbal consent of the aforementioned birthday girl.

**I wish I could post her age because nobody in their right mind would believe it.