jolly nerd swagger

Robert's birthday was yesterday so I gave him the embroidery piece I've been working on for him the past couple months.  After I made the rainbow zen piece Robert mentioned how much he would like to see one on a plain fabric.  So I enlisted the help of his cousin Rachel to pick out a dozen blue threads (his favorite color) and found a boring handsome piece of black fabric.  And I whipped up (very slowly) this:

  

It has been very tough hiding it from him.  I started carrying around a blanket that I could throw over it in case he popped in wherever I happened to be sewing.  Fortunately, because it wasn't an invisibility cloak, I never had to use it.  Over the past couple months I became hyper aware of every person entering the local coffee shop or break room at work.  I discovered that Robert's gait is equal parts assured old man and joyful toddler.  So pretty much anytime I caught a glimpse of anyone over 80 or under 3 I would do this duck and cover thing only to realize it wasn't him.    

So happy birthday to you, my playful and compassionate partner whose jolly nerd swagger is something I can now look forward to seeing again without having a heart attack ; ).