Happy 42nd Birthday, Paul!

Paul turns 42 years old today! He had just turned 27 when I met him, and at that point he hadn't completed any courses beyond high school. I never would have expected that 15 years later he'd have earned a BS in Math, a MS in Chemistry, and would almost be done with his PhD in Physical Chemistry. During that time period he's gone from only using a computer to play games to using the computer ALL day long to work on his programming (computational chemistry). He used to do a lot more reading (history and science) than he does now, and if he does read these days it's almost always related to math or computer programming. He sings a lot more than he ever did 15 years ago thanks to our two little munchkins. He used to stay up later and get up earlier than he does now. He gets a lot more sleep (on average) these days, and he also gets a lot less exercise than he did when he worked for his father. You just don't burn as many calories sitting in front of a computer as you do stacking concrete! I hope at some point he gets motivated to lose a significant amount of weight so it doesn't shorten his time here on earth. I hope to spend many more years together!

I accidently left his two most expensive birthday gifts in Maryland last week. He'll have to wait until March to receive those, as that's the next time I plan on driving to MD (I'll be attending a conference in DC the end of March). He does have a few presents and cards to open today. Nadia had fun using paint to make Daddy a birthday card yesterday. She also helped me make four dozen white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I tried two new recipes yesterday and also made him some white chocolate fudge with walnuts and cheese danishes for his breakfast this morning. I've never made any kind of fudge before. I love milk chocolate or peanut butter fudge, but I never make it as I fear I'd eat too much of it. I don't have such a worry with the fudge I made Paul as I'm not a fan of white chocolate. Hopefully he'll enjoy these birthday treats! I wish Ian could eat some of these goodies as he lost two pounds over the last two weeks. It is soooo hard to keep weight on that boy! I lined up a babysitter to watch the kids this evening so that I can take Paul out for his birthday dinner. I made lasagna last night as that's another one of his favorite foods. We're trying to show him how much we love him!