Hello Karma,

we meet again.

So, remember the post about me giving Jimmy the silent treatment? Yeah, so do I.
Why: After numerous reminders, starting in January, that I wanted to do something fabulous for my birthday weekend, I find out less than a week before my birthday that nothing has been planned.
How: I threw a 'it's my party and I'll cry if I want' hissy fit and launched into the silent treatment, including the full head turn when husband zooms in for a kiss.
Repercussions: Jimmy went into full planning mode and pulled an event schedule out of thin air. I was very pleased with the results. Stephanie started talking to her poor husband again.

However, my good friend Karma, had other plans. On the morning of my birthday, I woke up with the most excruciating pain in my throat. That's how any sickness starts for me. I was really not feeling the day. Crawling back into bed was the ideal, but Jimmy was not letting his plans go by the wayside. So, off we went to Denny's for free breakfast. FREE! Then, I wanted to get the car washed. Off we went to Classic Car Wash. It was FREE! Gosh, I had really gotten used to this whole whip out your id for free stuff day. Also on the list of free stuff on your birthday: a flower at Beau Fleurs, dessert at Applebee's, $30 at Benihahna's (sign up and they'll send your a gc), steak dinner at Black Angus, sombrero at Chevy's, ice cream at Coldstone, personal pizza at Roundtable and many, many more... Seriously, you can have an amazing birthday for free if you just jump from one place to another with your license flashing.
But I digress...
We drove to Sonoma and had a great time going to all the shops. Highlight? Tiddle E Winks- the best little vintage candy shop ever! I got some pretty sweet candy (that pun was intended) and a couple of vintage charms to go on a necklace. Oh yeah, and some FREE candy because it was my birthday! Plus, the very best gift I could have asked for: The sales clerk was very friendly and noticed I was singing along with Beatles album she had playing. We struck up a conversation about the Beatles and I mentioned how my six year old daughter's favorite album is the Abbey Road album. The clerk looked quizzical and said, "You have a six year old daughter?"
"Yes," I responded.
Then she said (bless her heart), "I thought you two were newlyweds. Just the way he looks at you with such adoration, I was sure you were here on your honeymoon." Awww... I probably shouldn't mention the silent treatment just recently administered, huh?

As the day continues, the chills set in and I got a pretty high fever. What we ended up missing: dinner reservations, hotel check-in (that's an embarrassing story where the concierge called repeatedly looking for us until giving up and leaving our key under the mat) and good night's sleep. We ditched the hotel a night early and left at 7:30am, swung by Bouchon Bakery for some takeout pastries and went home to sleep.

So the final result: Stephanie, the silent treatment administrator, ends up in bed missing more than half of the activities planned for 'the most fabulous birthday weekend ever'. And Jimmy, the silent treatment sufferer, gets to play videos games for the majority of the weekend while wife is silent as the dead and daughter is at Nana's.
Karma, such a fair weather friend.