Penny's SAHM Journal

December 5, 2004

A "Fruit-ful" Birthday
A 3-part Surprise

I celebrated my birthday today and my family made it very special for me.

When we awoke, Collin told my that he and Caleb were working on a surprise for me, so he didn't want me to come out of the bedroom until they had completed whatever it was they were doing. Since I had lots of birthday calls coming in, conversations with family and friends kept me busy while I was confined to my bedroom. Eventually, Collin came back into the room and went to the closet and pulled out one of his neckties. Turns out, that was what he was going to use to blindfold me.

With blindfold on, I thought I was about to be led out of the room. Instead, Collin and Caleb sat me on the bed. I could hear a table being set up and soon they told me to remove the blindfold. On the table was a beautiful (and tasty) assorted fruit salad they had prepared for me and a glass of carrot/apple juice inside of a special glass of mine. My birthday card had been placed on the side of the fruit bowl. I was instructed to enjoy my fruit alone and to page them (with the intercom system on the phone) when I was done eating.

After paging them, Collin told me to put the blindfold back on and they would be right there. They promptly returned to the bedroom and led me out of the room this time. I ended up in the kitchen where part two of my surprise was waiting --- a beautiful, large assorted fruit and nut platter.

With blindfold on again, this time they led me to the computer area of the house. I could feel where I was, so I thought part three of the surprise must have been a gift Collin had installed on the computer. When I removed the blindfold, there was something large resting on the computer chair with a throw draped over it. I started to rub my hands over the gift guessing what it could be. "This has got to be related to your fruit theme going on this morning," I said to them. With a really good idea of what the gift could be, I asked, "Does this gift mean that I'll NEVER have to cut up an apple again (when I juice)?" Collin and Caleb didn't give away the surprise but the look on their faces told me they were pleased that I was thrilled about whatever it was (or possibly was) resting on the computer chair. To confirm my surprise, I pulled the throw off the box, and sure enough, awaiting me was "Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer." I was so excited that I literally jumped for joy and shuffled back and forth across the room as an expression of my excitement. Collin and Caleb beamed. I'm sure I was beaming even more.

I'm a big advocate of juicing for better nutrition. I love what fresh fruit juice and vegetables do for the body. For many months now I've been juicing regularly although I haven't always been as consistent with it as I would like to be. But, because I'm currently on a fruit, vegetable and no-meat fast (eating things such as soy and nuts as my protein), I know I'll be juicing a whole lot more. My family has so thoughtfully made this process much easier for me since the Jack LaLanne juicer requires hardly any slicing, dicing or peeling. In most cases, I can put the whole fruit into the juicer. I am sooooo happy about this gift!

This juicer can be used for "sauces and dressings," too. This also pleases me since I've increased my salad intake during the fast I'm on and since my goal is to fully be a vegetarian by the end of this fast, I know I'll be making lots of dressings with the juicer -- plus sauces for Tofu. I can't wait to experiment.

Well, now that my birthday has slowed down, I'm about to dig inside of the juicer box and explore this fabulous gift even further and make a juice before going to bed.

Thank you Jack LaLanne, in advance, for enhancing my juicing life. Thank you Collin and Caleb for making my birthday so special. I will forever cherish your thoughtfulness and creativity. Thank you to all of my other family and friends who called me today and/or sent or brought over gifts. Your love is all the gift I need, (but I did enjoy getting the cards and gifts from you)! (smile)

May each and every one of you reading this journal entry have a "fruit-ful" holiday season!!! A big "fruity" hug from me to you! :-)



Penny 12/5/04
Momtoaboy@aol.com