Matt's birthday, and brownie cake—yum!

I stopped by my parents' house today on my way to a dermatologist appointment to say happy birthday to my brother, Matt. My mom had made a lovely (and quite gooey) brownie cake for him, so after my appointment I came back to celebrate with him and my dad, Shannon, and of course, Otto (my mom had to work and Pete was at home).


Matt and the lighting of the infamous number candles, this time a rather fresh and unused looking "24"


Dad looking eager


Shannon taking pix


Otto barking and drooling on my lap as we sing "Happy Birthday"

Yes, my mom just had a birthday on Tuesday, and my other brother Steve had a birthday on the 10th. And guess what? There's ANOTHER birthday coming up on Saturday! Guess who? (No, not me, I'm a Virgo.)

I guess you'll have to wait to find out this weekend, hee hee...

Mama's birthday

Pete and I arrived at this little birthday gathering on a bit of a fluke. We had dentist appointments scheduled yesterday for 5:10, which I confirmed with both my iPhone calendar and the reminder call we got from the dentist's office the day before. When we showed up, we were told it's actually scheduled for today at the same time. Argh!

Since we were already halfway towards my parents' house and it was my mom's birthday, we decided to head over there and have dinner and cake with them. My mom had had a hard day at work, so it pleased her to see us arrive with some cold beer (for the brats she was cooking, and our bellies) and smiles on our faces.


My mom's wacky sense of humor

After dinner the celebratory birthday pound cake was brought out, and it was ceremoniously lit aflame with a few molten number candles on top. Of course, Otto instantly began barking when he saw the cake being placed in the center of the table, and would not shut up, even after we were all done singing.


Matt and the honorary pound cake


Dad waiting to start the festivities


The gigantic knife my dad got out to cut the wee little cake


Mom laughing as...


...Otto entertains and annoys us with his usual birthday song barking


The cake aglow with birthday splendor


Mom blowing out her candles


Pete looking amused as my dad cracks joke after joke, heavily laced with puns


Me groaning at all the punnery involving the words "pound cake"


The aforementioned birthday-pun-pound cake


Otto waiting for some cake to be tossed his way


Some lovely flowers for mom's birthday

We had a great time, lots of laughs, and got to relax a little, which was nice. Best of all, it made up for my mom's bad day and gave her something to be happy about. That's the best gift we could have given her today, I think.

Spaghetti-dinner-and-brownie-cake-birthday for Steve

Last night we had a spaghetti-and-brownie-birthday-cake party for Steve's birthday. My mom made her usual wonderful spaghetti for dinner. And as for the cake, she whipped that up too, complete with festive green sprinkles and the obligatory number candles, which are in constant rotation in our family (especially that 3).


The decorated cake


Matt waiting for the festivities


Mom looking dizzy


Singing to Steve while Stephi looks on


Me smiling at all the teasing and goofiness


Yum, brownie cake!


A caged and indignant Otto, barking along to "Happy Birthday"


Dad couldn't wait for me to take a proper picture and immediately started in on his slice, tongue hanging out, fork flashing and cake a-rollin'.

It was a lot of fun, and I needed the laughs and the relaxation. Talk centered around the boys' upcoming ice fishing trip and Otto's usual round of obnoxious "crotch surfing" at the table. Good times, good times.

Photo of the Week" Oooh yeah, snow!"

Otto grinning over a freshly killed branch a few winters ago



When someone is this happy to be out in the snow, how can you get mad at the inconvenience? I'll remind myself of this when I'm heading out this afternoon during rush hour, and I begin my long and torturous ride home.

(Note to the snow gods: please hold off the storm until Pete and I are safely home tonight. Please? I'll be eternally grateful, and maybe even fashion a cute but misshapen snowman in your honor. Thank you.)

Photo of the Week: "Mom Swatting at Otto with Pot Holders"

This photo cracks me up.

I'll give you a little background on it. We were having a birthday party for Pete and Steve at my mom's house last year, and everyone had gathered around the table to sing happy birthday to them both. As soon as the singing commenced, Otto began his annoying ritual of barking along with the singing at top volume. He was spraying us all with spittle and pawing at the floor like an angry bull. Shouts of "Shut up!" and "Knock it off!" fell on his deaf ears, until my mom got up and attempted to swat him away with pot holders. Which is totally hilarious to me, because if you've ever met Otto, you know that he is a huge beast of a dog, a bull in a china closet, a mutant with his half-blue eye, webbed feet, and Barry White–deep voice. It was funny that my mom attempted to silence him with measly pot holders, but even funnier still was the picture I captured of that exact moment. His eyes are squeezed shut and his head is half turned in an attempt to avoid the slap of the flimsy cotton material. To Otto it would be like being slapped with a feather. Of course, Otto ducked out of the way and avoid the blow, like a matador effortlessly dodging a bull.

And right after this picture was taken he stepped up his efforts to butt in on the birthday song and continued his bellowing and barking. When the song was over, he shouldered his way past the birthday boys and everyone else, and made sure he was first in line for a piece of cake. My mom plopped a hunk of cake on a paper plate and tossed it in the corner, where Otto proceded to wolf down the sugary goodness, which gave us a few minutes of peace and quiet. But he was soon back for more, and shortly after that he was sent to his cage by my dad, because my mom insisted that Otto take a time out.