Birthday Brunch

My family (my parents, siblings, daughters and grandchildren) were waiting for us when we arrived at Mimi's Cafe. They were already seated at a table for 20. I sat in the middle of the table and enjoyed conversing with everyone. My grandson, Vincent, sat on one side of me and my husband sat on the other side.

I had ordered an orange juice, but after one sip I knew it would not be good for me to drink on an empty stomach. I asked the waiter to exchange it for apple juice. He thought he had made a mistake and brought back the apple juice in a large pilsner glass (the kind beer or perhaps a parfait are served in). Everyone teased me about drinking early in the day : )

Those of us following Weight Watchers talked about what we would order. I had the egg white omelet with a low fat blueberry muffin. Mmmm, mmm! The muffin was delicious. They serve the muffin first and all my hungry grandchildren were watching it arrive. I cut it up and shared it with all of them. I didn't even miss what I gave away.

After we ate, out came some presents. The first one was from Isabele. She is 5 and was so excited to give me the gift she had made for me. It was a beautiful beaded necklace. She said she had worked very hard on it : ) I put it on and wore it all day.

Next came a gift bag from my parents that contained, among other things, a wallet on a shoulder strap (I'm sure there is a proper name for them). It was leather and contained cash inside. My sister gave me a card that also included cash. My daughter, Emily, handed me some more cash before we left the restaurant. It (the cash) was for our afternoon adventure !

The waiter returned with a birthday surprise ... a huge piece of chocolate pie with lots of whipped cream on top. My family sang happy birthday to me and I decided to take a small bite then pass the pie around. Everyone who wanted to, got a bite of it.

I am very thankful that I'm no longer obsessed with food like I used to be. In the past I wouldn't have even thought of sharing my muffin or my pie with anyone else. On this day, it was actually freeing to let it go!

At one point during the brunch I took several of the kids to the bathroom. They got to giggling and talking so loud (plus it was echoing) I tried to shush them and thought people would be looking at us when we came out. Many eyes did turn toward us. One lady spoke up and said they were all so cute. I told her they were my grandchildren. She said I was very lucky. That I am.... blessed, that is.