So every year it seems something happens on or around my birthday celebration that sort of mars it. Sometimes it is nothing big, sometimes it is difficult not to think the world is sending me a message. Last night was one of the latter. We left our house at 4:30. I didn't know where we were going but knew that I was instructed to pack an overnight bag. The Daughter had been doing really well with The Husband & my mom as far as sleeping so I wasn't that worried but when we got in the car I said I was nervous. We drove to this tiny beautiful hotel, The Bed & Breakfast Inn La Jolla which is just 15 minutes, at most, from our home. Our room was beautiful and just exactly what I was looking for... antique, stylish, classy, intimate, romantic... When we arrived there was a wedding going on outside the church right next door. It was nice to overhear two people starting a life together. We had some wine, cheese and we made love with an intimacy that we've not had before.

We went to dinner at a wonderful restaurant with an extensive and awesome wine list. We ended up with one of the cheapest bottles on the list simply because I wanted to try it -- Bonny Doon's Heart of Darkness. We loved it. Dinner was sensational - I had the lobster, The Husband had seared Ahi in combination with Hawaiian Butterfish. We finished off with a chocolate souffle to die over.

When we were driving to the hotel, we noticed that the museum across the street was having a big huge, black-tie fundraiser, Austin Powers-themed. The wedding reception was in full swing and from our room we could hear a mixture of music from both venues. Not disturbing at 9pm.... but as the hours moved forward... 11pm, 12am and the Austin Powers gala was still blaring music loud enough that we might as well have been there, it started to become vaguely familiar to me. I cannot sleep with loud noise. We hoped it would end at 12 but realized at 1am that it was likely not ending until 2. Figuring we'd hold out and then get in 6 hours of sleep before heading downstairs for breakfast we laid in bed... When 2am came, people left...and then it started... the trucks moved in. Loud, big, slamming things around, opening doors, backup beeping, people yelling... they were disassembling the entire thing right then and there. We couldn't believe it. The Husband had fallen asleep at one point but woke in a pool of sweat from the windows being closed. It was so hot there was no way to keep them closed and having them open we could hear every noise being made (well that wasn't too hard it was so unbearably loud). Finally, at 3:15am we made a call --- might as well drive home and get a couple hours of sleep than lay here awake all night - certainly breakfast can't be that good.

We arrive home around 3:30... The Daughter is asleep and fine, The Son and Grandma are sleeping in our bed and we have nowhere to sleep! A comedy or a tragedy, you pick.

On about 2 hours of sleep this morning, we have a family gathering. Determined to right the evening, The Husband and I put on Blue's Clues for the kids, went upstairs and made love with passion. We figure our bed, our home was where we are meant to be ... with our kids. It was a lovely thought but obviously the universe was sending us a message.