29 years and 2 weeks

Yes, two weeks ago I celebrated my birthday by going to the doctor. But more importantly, my husband celebrated my birthday despite my sickness, despite my pitiful-ness and did such a great job. I woke up saying that I didnt even want to do presents. THAT IS VERY UN-Meredith! So I came downstairs after getting dressed to go to the doctor and saw this... Now mind you, this picture was taken LATER. But at this point, you might be asking yourself - why is a 29 year old's present under a stuffed dog? Well that is not just any dog, it is a Pound Puppy. And while as a child I collected teddy bears for a hobby, my favorite toy was a Pound Puppy given to me as a birthday present for my third or fourth birthday by my mom's parents, my Nannie and Granddaddy. I can vividly remember the wrapping paper, the ripping off of a corner of it and seeing the word Tonka, the way my Grandfather told me that they got me a tonka truck for my birthday and my extreme happiness to see it was a dog and falling asleep on the couch watching Fraggle Rock, snuggling the dog - therefore naming him Snuggly. He was always my favorite after that, even went to college and has always gone where I have gone in terms of home.

At the beginning of Christmas break, we helped Dad move and he wanted me to move some things out of my room. I packed up recital videos, all items Tigger for possible future use in a nursery, my keyboard and all the pound puppies I had in addition to Snuggly. That included the poodle ( Fifi, real original huh?) And the four Pound Puppies newborns - Huggie, Chocolate, Sparky and Dandy. I did it so they wouldn't get lost or messed up as things are moved out. Who knew they would become accomplices in my birthday fun?

My favorite birthday that Brad and I had shared previously involved clues all around the house leading from one present to the other. This one, which we enjoyed once we got home from the dr visit and three hours of hunting for eye drops at five pharmacies, was very reminiscent of that. I was directed to start in the back guest room:

Huggie was positioned on top of my first present : The Glee Soundtrack Part Two In this picture, he is "telling" me where to go next. Yes, stuffed animals are talking. After five days of being sick, missing a family Christmas and spending the last birthday of your 20's at the dr, you do ANYTHING to have fun on your birthday and my husband would do anything to make me smile!

Huggie "directed" me to go to the front guest room where his brother Dandy was guarding the second present - a DVD of Wallace and Gromit. We then went down the hall to the bonus room where Sparky met us with the third present - a beautiful yellow sweater from American Eagle

Then Fifi and I met again on the couch in the living room. What I found under her watch was a beautiful houndstooth overcoat.....haha houndstooth....dog. Again, anything humorwise was appreciative at this point.

And finally, in the dining room was Chocolate guarding my card. It had two tickets to go see Mary Poppins the musical at the Fox in May. This is special because when my sister and I were little we used to listen to the record of the Mary Poppins music at Nannie and Granddaddy's. Particularly memorable is how we would dance around the room to "I Love to Laugh" acting like we were floating like the characters in the movie.

So 29, despite the sickness, was pretty awesome and it was all thanks to my fabulous husband and the help from a few stuffed dogs.