What do brocccoli, my birthday and National Meatball day have in common? They were all celebrated last week at the Hacker house!

I had no idea I shared my special day with National Meatball Day. I always wanted a celebrity to share my day with but a meatball!! I was so excited to go out to eat on that night.

I always made a big deal of birthdays when the boys were growing up. I used to think that I decorated the house, held big birthday parties and bought lots of presents for the kids but now that I am reflecting, I realize it meant a lot to me to celebrate "big". Now that the boys are not home on their day, I miss it ...... more than I thought.

Please don't think I don't decorate, buy presents and bake a cake for Brad because I do. And I did have Fifty days of Brad for his 50th, for those that remember and who doesn't???.

But celebrating without the boys home is different. THEN this year happened. Brad decorated the house for me, bought me a cupcake and got me 3 gifts (more on that in the next blog) and I got to go out to dinner for meatballs with Lane and Sarah, Drew was in school :( .

Now, broccoli. When we became emptynesters, friends wanted to know what some of my plans were. I really had no plans except to maybe look at baby pictures and reminisce (and maybe shed a tear).

I thought about it and decided that was pretty lame so I decided to grow a vegetable garden. That took everyone by surprise, especially Brad since I can kill a plant just by looking at it, but who knew? I loved gardening and I was somewhat good at it.

But broccoli was giving me problems and I love broccoli. I couldn't get any broccoli to grow. Radishes, beets, carrots were everywhere but no broccoli. So when I went out on my birthday to water the garden there was broccoli!! My incredible day was complete.

Happy Empty Nesting!

PS Next blog is about My Birthday Presents and its very funny so stay tuned.