The Birthday Gift

I kissed her cheeks and eyelids and tickled her out of her sleep.

She jumped out of bed and and into my arms.

We hopped/skipped into the kitchen as her long hair danced and tickled my nose.

We quietly took the ingredients out of the cabinets and refrigerator as to not awake Ty.

We carefully mixed the batter and baked the birthday cupcakes while she played with her new present and I cleaned.

We were having a spectacular birthday weekend and this was Day 2.

We had had a fantastic day before with Jessi at Boo at the Zoo and some yummy take out and movies...and swimming...but we were ready for more!

I had decided not to race my 'cross race since we did not squeeze everything that we wanted to do into Saturday.

We would finish today.

However, I was afforded an hour and a half to go ride.

(Hey, I did a lot of work at 5:15pm on October 25, 2002 and should be rewarded too!)

*giggle*

Steph was meeting me at my house and we were going on a lovely hill ride.

The Marquette Hammer-drop alternate route to be exact.

I frosted and sprinkled each cupcake as The Sass jumped up and down watching the sprinkles fall like snow on what would surely taste like a vanilla cloud on her tongue.

Steph arrived just in time.

I snatched a piece of sugary goodness and let the cake melt in my mouth and dashed out the door.

(Hey, I needed calories before my ride!)

As we rolled out of the driveway, I felt the smile creep across my face.

It had been a rough week, but thus far an awesome weekend.

My littlest was chirping about in the house as she and Ty played with her new treasures and tried to keep the puppy away from the cupcakes.

I had the taste of yummy vanilla cupcake still on my tongue as we made our way to Valley Road and took in the changing colors of the leaves.

Traffic was non-existent, so we were able to ride side by side and catch up.

I felt all my stress and sadness melt away as I breathed in the smell of Autumn and let the sun hit my face a little more than usual.

Riding with Steph is always like this.

We push each other, but feel somehow relaxed the entire time.

I felt like a little kid.

We climbed the hills and laughed at our skills.

We talked about the changes we've seen over the past year in each other's abilities and poked some fun at the newbs that we once were...especially regarding hills.

I worked on a new stroke for the flats and mentally recorded the results to report back.

We worked at a nice pace and kept the heat on.

I'm pretty sure I worked more on the ride than I did giving birth to The Sass (though not Ty) and I was once again excited to get home to carry on the birthday festivities.

As we approached the fast and fantastic descent on Strecker to Clayton (we modified the route a bit), I could feel my excitement grow.

Not only because we were close to home, but because for that descent and the following climb, I would be a little kid...

A little kid out playing with one of her favorite friends.

I needed more rides like this.

We climbed up Clayton and rolled back into my driveway.

We talked about upcoming events and the holidays and decide that we are giving each other the gift of time this year...and board game nights.

We discussed our teams for the next year (we are both staying with our current teams) and laughed.

"It doesn't matter what kit we wear, Cor. We both know we're on the same team."

Yeah. I do know that...and that makes my heart smile.

We walked in and the smell of fresh cupcakes was still in the air.

We played with the dog and made plans for lunch with The Sass and Jessi.

Later, as I sat on the patio with all of them eating our girly lunch, I felt peaceful and content...and a little excited about what was up ahead.

That was a pretty spectacular gift...at the absolute perfect time.