A fellow ex-pat South African in the USA, Monique, reminded me about the weekend birthday rule and I quote:"If it falls on a Fri, Sat or Sunday you are entitled to a birthday WeekEnd!"
So I did just that! I took the day off work on Friday, and took that opportunity to sleep in a bit. At 10am - we had our car packed with clothes for the weekend, and we headed up to Detroit for a family reunion. Of course, every time we head to Michigan, we make an obligatory stop at Ikea. This is Liesel's favorite furniture store and always has an incredible selection and variety.
After a couple of hours we made our way to Liesel's uncle and aunt's house and settled in for the weekend. Another of Liesel's uncle and aunts, whom she had not seen for 8 years were flying in from the East Coast at the end of their summer vacation, would be spending a couple of days with the family in Detroit. This uncle and aunt were the only family of Liesel's that neither I, nor Nathan had met yet. This family had also kept in touch, and checked up on me constantly when Liesel and Nathan had to suddenly go to South Africa last year to help look after her mom. For that I am deeply grateful!
On Friday afternoon, after chatting to my mom and sister, Jacqui presented me with a giant chocolate chip birthday cookie!
Later that evening, Liesel and I settled down to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony - which seemed a fitting finale to my birthday :)
On Saturday morning, Andreas took me to his health club where we played a number of games of squash. I believe the last time time I played squash was in 2005, so it felt good to be able to hold my own after that sabbatical! Afterward we relaxed in the gym's hot tub before jumping into the pool, having a shower and heading back to their home. That afternoon Liesel's other uncle, aunt and cousins arrived. It was a honor to meet them after hearing so much about them. They also were very happy to finally meet myself and Nathan. We spent the rest of the day getting to know one another and catching up.
On Sunday we all rose and readied ourselves for Church at 9am. It was enjoyable - although I missed our Church back home in Ohio. When we got back to the Lippert's place - the men had a job to accomplish. Andreas had a couple of trees that had been killed by a wood boring beetle that needed to be taken down as they posed a hazard to their house. So armed with only an electric chainsaw and a piece of rope - the men set out to solve the problem. With the rope placed strategically each time, and tension being applied at exactly the right time, both trees fell exactly where we intended them to. It was very satisfying and our reward was an incredible lunch that appeased our increased appetites. It consisted of deliciously barbecued fillets of steak and sausage! For dessert - we had some chocolate brownies - heavenly! Then it was home time - and thus endeth the birthday weekend!
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