50 Red Solo Cups for Robin's 50th Birthday

Thanks to all for your awesome ideas and the cards and email greetings you sent! It was fantastic and lots of fun! Here's what I put in Robin's 50 red solo cups.

See more pictures of this fan-tab-ulous birthday!


In addition to the items below, I also put in a quotation card (printed on a festive business card) in each cup.

1. Scrunchie sponges
2. Prell shampoo (childhood favorite)
3. Birthday cake candles
4. Flowers
5. Birthday card
6. Massage lotion
7. Famous birthdays
8. Swiss cheese picture (his favorite and was in fridge)
9. Chapsticks with card
10. Hair gel packets: May you always have hair
11. Sharpies
12. “Happy” pills (blue M&Ms)
13. Memory kit: Post-it notes and pen with reminder, strings,
14. Directions to change font size on computer
15. Mini flashlight and keyring light
16. Colonoscopy kit: gloves, lubricant and patient prep instructions along with a 1961 text book (compliments of my workplace) on surgery of the rectum and anus
17. Hand warmers
18. Fake daffodils in dirt
19. Picture of our wedding day with date, place on back
20. Map to house
21. This day in history
22. Fake dog tags with name, birthdate and social
23. Bullets: May you always be able to hunt
24. Gold fish crackers: May you always be able to fish
25. 50 pennies: May you always be prosperous
26. Pill holder
27. Enema kit
28. “Joy” pills (green M&Ms) and more birthday cards from friends
    
29. Temporary shark tattoos
30. 50 marbles: For when you lose your own
31. Picture of me on my birthday with a birthday cake and birthday written on the back
32. Anti-pain kit with advil, aleve, biofreeze and arnica: May you never have pain
33. Gas X
34. Dictionary: For when you can’t remember the word
35. Aphrodisiac pills (yellow M&Ms)
36. Wax hair removal kit
37. Back brace: May you always have support
38. Caffeine pills: May you always have energy
39. Photos of some of our first dates
40. Photo of Bellingham ferry terminal where we met
41. Balloons
42. Men’s senior vitamins
43. Laughter pills (orange M&Ms)
44. Cards from his mom and aunt
45. Reading glasses
46. Flarp noise putty (which made him laugh hysterically)
    
47. Anti-itch kit: Gold Bond powder and hydrocortisone cream
48. Tums antacid
49. Ace bandages/wraps
50. Fun pills (red M&Ms) and a card from a friend
    

Robin's Big 5-0

Robin celebrates his 50th birthday today. He is just as fit and fabulous at 50 as he was at 25! Please e-mail, call or send a happy birthday greeting!

How we're celebrating:

• Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum!
  
• A happy birthday ad in the local paper with the picture from when he was 25 (don't you love all the trophies in the background? He won 33 of them over the years.)

• 

  Taking a picture of him posing and flexing his muscles, just like one taken when he was 25
  
• 50 red solo cups filled with all sorts of fun items (thanks to all for your great suggestions)!
• A trip to New Zealand (which will be next year due to planning and scheduling)
• Some other things I can't share. ;-)

Happy St. Paddy's

We saw the northern lights last night. Wow, how awesome! Thanks to some recent solar flares and storms, they have been really good. They are forecast to be really good tonight, too. This time, I will be better prepared. Just when I needed them last night, the batteries went out on the camera!

Quote of the day...

"How can you be hungry? I ate more than you did!"

Robin in response to me telling him I was hungry an hour after we ate.

The Maestro

Robin, a.k.a. The Maestro, has gone to town with the new iPad.

He flips this, twists that, shuffles through the other, flicks over there and more ... all in the blink of an eye. Watching him is like watching Lawrence Welk conduct his orchestra. He'll even take it out of my hands to demonstrate how to do something. Amazing!

Top 10 Things Joe's Status Will Get You

Our friend, we'll call him "Joe", gave us airline guest passes for our trip to Florida. Although a very generous gift, we're now wondering if "Joe" really is our friend ... or is he trying to get us off his friend list? Here's what "Joe's" airline status got us:

1. The only window seat on the plane that didn't actually have a window. Go figure, the seat across the aisle had a window.
   
2. A loud, non-stop-crying, obnoxious 3-year-old. My ears are still ringing. How his dad slept through it all is beyond me. It's a miracle no one was hurt or killed.
   
3. Three days to get out of Kodiak. Yes, three days. We were "outranked" by others with more seniority than "Joe." Really? How many people on Kodiak were using guest passes? At least we were at home. (Thanks, "Joe".)
   
4. Another two days to get out of Seattle. Which meant we had time to kill ... so we spent money on an iPad. (Our bank account says thanks, "Joe".)
   
5. The smallest seats on a plane I have ever seen or sat in.
   
6. On the return flight, the last row of seats, which means no reclining for the 6-hour flight. (Thanks again, "Joe".)
   
7. No refreshments, drinks or snacks during the flight east. Come on, how did they mark us?
   
8. Mean flight attendants. They must have once considered "Joe" a friend, too.
9. Sorry, no full cans of soda for you! We'll only give you a cup.
10. We'll have to charge you extra for that overweight bag. It's overweight by 4 ounces, so unless you can take something out....