A Day in the Life

Today was my 13,505th day of life (that's 37 years for you mathematically challenged :-) It began at 6:01 am with a little raspy voiced R saying in a silly sing songy voice "Happy birthday to my favorite 47 year old Mommy!' (I only had to correct him once that it was 37 not 47!) This was followed by sweet snuggles with all three before picking my phone up from the charger to find fun facebook birthday messages!

By 6:40 am, I was playing the Wii with my delighted children (who were celebrating their first day of Fall break!) When I made it to the kitchen to start breakfast I was greeted by gifts the kids had picked out and a call from my husband that he was on his way back home from early morning rounds with pancakes and eggs from Krystal "so I didn't have to get my clean kitchen dirty." That's a good man that understands the beauty of a clean kitchen!

Right after breakfast, I was given the precious gift of a squirmy, live earthworm from my delicate flower of a daughter. This was followed by her (much more appreciated) offer to help with laundry. My sweet curly girl spent an hour helping me get things folded and put away without complaint. As we finished she had two questions: "How much money did I earn?" and
"Why are you doing all this laundry on your BIRTHDAY?"

Point well taken, we packed up the car and headed for Starbucks to redeem my free birthday latte (as well as some delicious iced lemon pound cake). Yum! This was followed by an hour reading in Barnes & Noble before running a few boring, but necessary, errands.

We returned home to more sweet birthday messages from friends near and far, a package on the doorstep (Thanks, Emily!) and a delivery of chocolate covered fruit from Edible Arrangements. (Thanks, Aunt Boo!)

Around 12:30 Daddy came home with my favorite Thai food. (Is it any wonder I have reflux? Coffee, chocolate, thai food, oh my!) After lunch we had a neighbor come over for a couple of hours to play, which allowed me to catch my breath for a bit.

After a quick visit from another dear friend, the late afternoon/evening marathon began: dinner, football game and kung fu.

All was not perfect...one of my people had a sidelining tummy ache earlier in the day, followed by an unfortunate potty accident tonight while we were out and about as a result of my Milk of Magnesia anecdote. Cleaning up big kid potty accidents is no fun. My husband was on call and, therefore, mostly absent and at the mercy of his pager. Our little football team got decimated by our opponent. My house has been turned upside down by rowdy children. I am painfully behind on my to do list. After a couple more loads of laundry, you cannot even tell K & I made any progress this morning. And tonight as I tried to brew my nightly indulgence, a warm cup of tea, my coffee pot went on the blink. In other words, life happened here today.

But, honestly, it was a BEAUTIFUL birthday. I was with my people. I was reminded via text, phone, email and facebook of the many precious relationships I am fortunate to enjoy. My husband has a secure job. I have a home and children who are active and healthy enough to trash it in short order. I have the peace of knowing that I have a loving Father who has a plan.

The encouragement and affirmation I received today was a precious blessing. It challenged me to be better about reaching out and speaking words of life into the people I encounter. People love to know they were thought about. Each comment or text took less that 10 seconds to type and send--yet it refreshed my soul.

I feel blessed beyond measure--primarily because of things that cannot be quantified--joy, love, peace, friendship. If the first 20 hours are any indication, I am going to love 37!

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:6 NIV