I got up this morning and baked my mom’s favorite cake – a Texas sheet cake. All of that ooey, gooey, sinfully sweet chocolate. I can’t think of a better birthday treat! To add to its “fun factor,” I topped the cake with brightly colored sprinkles, then tucked the coordinating “Happy Birthday” candles away in my purse.

Driving over there, I reminded myself that it’s safer to keep expectations low and potentially find yourself pleasantly surprised, than to expect too much and be disappointed. Yep, I’m learning.

When I arrived at Eason House, Mom was sacked out snoozing on one of the other ladies’ bed. She had started on her own bed, but then at some point got up and moved. Looked like she had made herself right at home!

The girls said she hadn’t had a very good morning, so I let her sleep and settled in at the table to color with the ladies. Aren’t they sweet?

It wasn’t long before Mom was awake, seeming to be in a better mood than I expected. I figured trying to do the candles and whole nine yards might be pushing it, though, so I just took a tiny bit of frosting on a spoon and gave it to her. Ah, she loves chocolate as much now as ever; those eyes just lit up when she got a taste.

She was only up about 15 minutes before she started to get sleepy again, but she wasn’t giving up on the cake. Eyes closed, that mouth opened like a baby bird waiting for another bite until she had eaten two small pieces herself! Thanks to that rich frosting, she also threw back almost two glasses of water! Let’s hear it for hydration! Woohoo!

Apparently, later in the afternoon, we looked like quite the partying pair – both sound asleep on the couch, in all our glory!

Before heading out, I did manage to capture a few smiles for posterity…