If you couldn't figure it out from the title above, today is my birthday. My 32nd birthday to be exact.

I celebrated in grand fashion, too. First off, I took a half day at work. That in itself is a cause for celebration, but in this case it merely a part of the festivities.

I spent the afternoon buying tires and mowing the yard! You know me- no extremes of merriment are out of reach.

That sounds sarcastic, but I really had a great day. I got home just in time to drop Ruth off at the hairdresser where she met her mother for a bit of a familial fashion fest. I left her and took Isaiah with me to K-Mart to get new tires on our Oldsmobile Ciera. I had called around Wednesday and they came up with the lowest price in the area.

I knew Isaiah and I would have a good time. He loves vehicles and machines so much I figured, rightly, that he would get a big kick out of standing around watching the tires get done. Of course, we didn't spend the whole time in the garage, his attention span is astounding, but he is only 17 months old.

We spent about 2/3 of the time in the snack bar at K-Mart sharing a couple of small Cokes (courtesy of the complimentary small drink cards handed out to customers of the garage) and a large order of fries.

Isaiah was pretty good for me as we had our little snack. In the beginning, he was a little more fidgety than I would have liked (since he was sitting on my lap and there were two drinks on the table), but that wasn't his fault. His attention was being diverted by the rotten little boy who was running around the place causing all kinds of trouble despite his mother's half-hearted admonitions to "sit down and be good, now". Once the little rat left, though, he was very good.

He has an amusing habit towards food. About half the time when he is presented with something to eat, regardless of what it is, he will hold his hand out towards it like he is checking it's temperature and say "Hot!". It's kind of funny, especially when he does it to something like the ham and cheese sandwich his Mommy has just broken into bite-sized pieces and put on the tray of his highchair for him.

But frequently when he is presented with something that is hot, like the very hot fresh fries that were melting small holes in the bottom of the styrofoam plate they were served in, he'll reach right in, grab one, and jerk his hand back with a facial expression of dismay.

I told him the fries were hot, but he didn't believe me at first. He did pretty quickly, though! After that he told me they were hot about once a minute.

When we had finished our snack, we went back out to watch the tires get put on our car.

When we passed back into the garage our car was up on the lift right in front of us. "Car," he said and pointed. He is a sharp little fellow and he loves cars, trucks, and especially my scout. He never tires of pointing out "mows". He uses the word mow, short for lawn mower, for anything mechanical that attracts his interest.

We enjoyed ourselves walking back and forth in front of, and into and out of the garage. He also derived some amusment by walking up a wheelchair curb ramp in the sidewalk and then stepping down off the curb. He also kept a keen eye on everything being done by the mechanics.

I got some cool birthday gifts, a mouse with a scroll wheel from Ruth, a socket and ratchet set (on clearance at half price, I'm told) from Isaiah (with some help from Ruth), a hefty gift certificate to Sears from my Mom, and a cool Pheonix Suns t-shirt from my Dad. While my Mom watched Isaiah, Ruth and I went out to dinner and saw "Space Cowboys"- the food was great and the movie was entertaining, if hokey.

The best gift I got today, though, was that special time I got to spend with my favorite little boy. I'll do my best to remember and treasure the memory of that hour and a half. I also aim to do my best to remember and treasure all the special times we'll spend together in the future. I sure do love that little guy.

A special day spent with special people