Recently I had a birthday...the big 40. Having a birthday made me very appreciative of many things such as an amazing family, fantastic husband, great friends, and the blessing of still having all my faculties...at least as far as I know I still have all my faculties? I remember as a kid thinking that 40 year olds were one foot in the grave but I figured they didn't know it because they couldn't see or hear so well. Even if they did know it, they were sure to forget quickly.
Another thing I appreciated on my birthday was Face Book. Face book has revolutionized birthdays. When in the history of the world have you been reminded to wish happy birthday to a person you haven't seen in 25 years and have no idea where they live or what their phone number is? It's fantastic! I savored each of the birthday wishes. It's even great for people like me who forget the birthday's of people I know well and see everyday. For this feature alone, face book is deserving of a Nobel prize.
I also received several fantastic birthday gifts. I always enjoy gifts (feel free to send a late one if you forgot...gifts always welcome here) but there were 4 gifts for this birthday that were particularly amazing and noteworthy.
Gift # 1 - A surprise party from Jordan. She has been telling me for almost 6 months that she was going to have a surprise party for my birthday. I tried to tell her that talking to me about it DAILY just might ruin a little of the surprise factor. She was pretty convinced that I would forget our conversations and be surprised anyway. Not sure how to take that. Maybe she has the same opinion of 40 year olds that I had as a kid? Maybe she just knows me better than I realize? Regardless, the party was great and Jordan's glee and excitement brought so much joy to my heart. I love that girl!
A few days later we had a "surprise" party for Jon. I introduced Jordan to silly string...she's a fan! But really, who isn't?
Gift # 2 - Carcassonne...this is a world domination board-type game that we learned to play with Kris and Lance while in Hawaii. A fun and competitive game that is great for 2 people. It has been a long time since there has been a game that Jon and I enjoyed playing with just the two of us...not since the time where we played backgammon every night...for 8 years. Really. When we find something we like, we stick with it. Some people may call it a rut. We choose "consistency". We now play several games of Carcassonne almost every night. We started out keeping score of the overall games won by each of us. We were writing them in the top of the game box....kind of a log of our playing history. Then I went on a bit of a loosing streak. I found myself laying in bed plotting how to out-strategize Jon the next night and getting angry at him when he'd thwart my efforts. One night I got so frustrated I threatened to burn the game (my competitive side can get a little ugly). We decided to stop keeping score. At least, we don't keep it on the box anymore...but we both know what the score really is. No matter what anyone says, winning DOES matter. Ahhhhhh...healthy marriage time together!
Gift #3 - My most bizarre gift came from my friends Jennifer and Kim. A while back we were talking about our weddings (random). I wore a family dress that I absolutely loved, but I said my only regret was that I never did the whole trying on wedding dresses thing. I always thought that looked like fun to try on all the beautiful dresses but at the time, I was too busy with other things to bother with it and after the wedding...well...who tries on wedding dresses after they're married? So they set up a surprise appointment for me to try on dresses. I may be 40 and married for almost 18 years (yikes) but I had a blast trying on all the dresses! The staff really got into with us and the entire experience was so much fun. I loved it! Now my only wedding regret is that there are so pictures documenting my hugomongous hair style at my wedding. Don't think there's anyway to fix that one.
Gift #4 - The last gift was totally unexpected and has brought tears to my eyes many, many times. Shortly before we got Jordan, I started a blog. Until my mom died, I was fairly consistent with updating it and for the past 2 years it's been a little hit and miss, but there are still so many great stories recorded there. Jon reformatted all the blogs and pictures and had them published in a book. It's 147 pages of pure joy. 5 years of our everyday lives. Priceless. Jordan and I sit down almost everyday and read a few pages. It has reminded me how important blogging is to me. I don't journal or even scrapbook (although I have all the stuff and good intentions) so a blog captures so many stories and events that I would totally forget. My blog started out being a way to pacify my mom...she was out of control when we adopted Jordan and would call 5 times a day just to see what Jordan was doing. We reached a compromise to reduce the phone calls and I would blog. Anytime she needed a Jordan fix she could get on the computer instead of picking up the phone. Now my mom is gone and my initial motivation for blogging went with her. However, I've discovered that I love blogging just for me. Even if no one but me ever reads this, I enjoy it (although I have to admit, the comments bring me great joy!). So...I'm setting a June Year's goal (kind of like New Year's...but hey, it's June) to start blogging again!
