Stepping Out of the Boat

Well Thursday was my 25 birthday. I really can't believe that I am a quarter century old but I guess I am still a young one. When Claire and I left for school that morning we were welcomed by a sign the Becky, our foriegn teacher friend from across the hall, had made with candy and gum hanging from it. It was a nice little surprise first thing in the morning. The students really didn't know that it was my birthday until the point in the morning announcements when they read everyones birthday. My homeroom sang happy birthday to me during first period. Then my other class sang to me again when I had them for the first time. It was nice to have my birthday on a Thursday because it is my easiest day at school. I have the last two periods off on Thursday so it was nice to be done a little earlier.

Every year on my birthday Claire and I go to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I am a sucker for the Bloomin Onion and the Ribs. We weren't sure before moving here if that tradition was going to be able to be continued but wouldn't you know there is an Outback here within walking distance of our apartment. So the dinner date was on and before the day was out it was becoming a small party. When all was said and done there were 10 of us. Claire and I were obviously there. Going around the table to my left is Sonya, Holly, Wayne, Becky, Alyssa, Kayla, Yvonne, and Nelson (Claire is taking the picture if you hadn't figured that one out) Soyna, Becky and Wayne are all new this year and we all live in the same building. Holly is from Canada and has been here for 9 years. Yvonne, her husband Nelson, and their two children are the family that have been showing all of us around the town so far. We had a ton of food. We ended up ordering a couple Bloomin Onions and a couple Loaded Cheese Fries before our meals even got there. We were there for about 3 hours which is typical for a Dominican meal beacause they really aren't concerned with rushing through meals. The waitress there take thier time and never really try to rush your through your meal. We really had a great time.


After the meal the staff did come out with a small dish of whipped cream with a candle in it and sang happy birthday in both Spanish and English.

To top off the birthday celebration Claire and I came home and Claire made some birthday brownies. A simple task such as baking brownies here isn't so easy. Our oven doesn't have any numbers on it, it is either off or on. But the brownies came out fine and even though we were really full we each enjoyed a small piece. This was also the night of the season premire of Survivor. I thought it was the perfect way to finish the day. I think I can truely say that my 25th birthday is one that I will never forget.

Tomorrow Claire and I are headed to an all inclusive resort as another way to do a little celebrating. Alot has gone on here that we are in need of blogging so be checking back with us in a couple days. Just to give you a preview of what to come we discovered an orange tree in our back yard with oranges on it, we had our school open house which lasted almost three hours, and Friday night a fellow coworker took us to a health spa that he is member of for a little swimming and relaxing.