The Cake before the Storm

I was "today years old" when I learned that there are no laundromats in New Jersey.

(Why else would all these Jersey people come over to PA and take over our laundromat parking lots?)

The Additional Parking Behind Building sign on the pillar suddenly no longer applies, when some entitled idiot parks his Santa Fe right smack in the middle of the driveway leading to the rear lot!

(After weighing the bullet holes in the front windows of the store against my urge to honk at him, I did finally decide to lay on my horn until he came and moved his vehicle.)

Then I had the pleasure of actually going inside, where there was a lovely gentleman arguing with the laundromat attendant over the fact that he had just taken it upon himself to open someone else's unattended dryer and take all their clothes out so he could use it instead.

(He wanted a "top shelf" dryer, not a "bottom shelf" dryer. Because this is preschool, and there's absolutely a difference.)

So he and the clerk went back and forth shouting at each other for a few minutes. And then they each made their rounds to argue their respective cases to those of us who were "lucky" enough to be sitting in earshot, as if any of us had an interest in being the jury.

The highlight of his argument turned out to be:

If I was a white woman, this would be so different!

Who doesn't love a racist narcissist?

He stomped around for a good 15 minutes afterwards (as children do), and I managed to sneak a picture of him:

I intended to hightail it out of there the second my dryer finished, figuring I would just fold our clothes when I got home instead.

But halfway through the wash cycle, a woman in a Burger King uniform came in from next door and said her bus hadn't arrived. She asked if I could do her a favor and look up the schedule on my phone.

The schedule said the bus was running a bit late but showed that it was just up the road. So the woman thanked me and went back outside. But a few minutes later I saw the bus go whizzing by without stopping, and then I found the woman sitting outside when I finally went to leave almost another hour later.

There were some pretty wicked looking storm clouds rolling in, and I felt bad, so I asked where she lived.

Frankford.

Not the best area. And easily an hour round trip.

I definitely wasn't taking her all the way to Frankford, but I offered to take her a few miles up the road to the Oxford Valley Mall if she wanted. I figured she would have a better chance of catching a bus there, and also a place to get out of the rain when it came.

She told me that would be perfect, so I gave her a ride. And she was so astonished and appreciative that it sort of restored my faith in humanity after all the other jerky unpleasantness I had to witness while I did our laundry.

Given how hot our clothes had been when I took them right out of the dryer and stuffed them back into the basket, Kevin and I got a laugh when I finally got home and poured everything out onto our bed, only to have our clothes hold the shape of the basket.

And then, when I told him everything that had happened, he had a field day mocking up an entire infomercial about it:

Never a dull moment with the laundromat and its clientele.

But c'est la vie, right?

(I'd say 'Let them eat cake', but that was about to be our job!)

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Catherine and Ron's house for my birthday dinner.

On our way there Kevin spotted "Riley's first car" outside the coffee house in Langhorne:

As soon as we got to his parents' house, Kevin wanted to run outside and harvest some tomatoes before the rain rolled in.

We got another giant bowl full and made it back inside with about two minutes to spare!

Then Catherine and Ron treated all of us to take out for dinner:

We took a short break to digest a bit and moved into the living room so I could open my presents.

I opened my gift from Riley first:

Next, I opened my cards and gifts from Kelly and Steve and Catherine and Ron. (I had no idea what to suggest when they asked me for ideas, so they got me gift cards. And a pair of lovely cards!)

Then finally I got to Kevin's gift:

He custom ordered me a blanket with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs ("Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol):

And then when Liv finished up teaching Riley her ABCs, it was time for cake:

Hannah was trying to get a piece from anyone she could!

Just as we bit into our cake, Kevin noticed a rainbow out the window behind me! He got up and ran outside to snap a picture:

Then as he got back inside and sat back down, he asked:

Is it just me or is it like ten times brighter now that I already went out and took the picture?

And we all realized, not only was it brighter, but it was a double!

I snapped this pic just a little while later:

And Kevin got this one just as we were leaving:

Riley asked if we could stop by the thrift store on the way home:

These two shoppers were out of luck, because this particular thrift store didn't have an automobiles department. (Or fire extinguishers.)

Riley didn't find anything for herself, but I found a nice vase that will match the Japanese theme of some of my decor in the bedroom, and Kevin spotted a lovely mounted canvas with a painting of some autumn trees with lots of yellows and blacks that will compliment our bee theme in the living room.

As we got into bed later I told Kevin that he's the first one in my life ever to make a big deal about my birthday. The first ever to insist that we get together with family and have cake. And certainly the only one of my romantic relationships ever to make a point to help the kids be able to get me a card and gift, and to give me thoughtful and practical gifts I actually love!

And finally, my mom also called me in the afternoon, at the exact moment I was born to wish me happy birthday. And Taylor texted me later in the evening while we were at the thrift store :)

So thank you to everyone for an absolutely perfect birthday!!