My 39th Birthday

I could have just titled this post "My Birthday"...but no, I like to keep reminding myself that I am now 39.

When I was younger - teenager, maybe - 39 was O. L. D. When I was younger, I thought that a 39-year old had things figured out.

Now, not so much. Now, I believe them when I hear a person say "I don't feel like I'm such-and-such-an-age". I feel like I'm about 19. Mentally/emotionally, that is. Physically, I do feel 39. And it makes me scared for what 49 (or 59, or 69!) is going to feel like. When Jas and I get up from the floor (or wherever) and we creak and audibly groan, we look at each other and say that we have "a bad case of O. L. D." (Yes, we actually spell it out...we've heard that keeping your mind active helps in preventing the onset of Alzheimers.)

But now, my parents are both 62...and they don't seem "old" to me. My definition of "old" keeps getting older right along with me.

But enough waxing poetically about getting old, I want to record this day...because I probably won't actually remember it...what with being so old and all...

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After hitting the snooze button one time, Jas and I got up at 5:09 a.m. Actually, I didn't get "up" just yet. I got to open my first present of the day right then...still in bed! Jas bought me a beautiful new jogging suit, that I love! He did a great job with the colors and the size! Love you, Jas!

And then LK and Elisabeth and I headed out the door to get a blood-draw for LK. (The medicine dosage change we recently made prompted this sooner-than-usual blood draw, to see how that change is affecting her levels.)

This is me and my precious girlies as we headed out the door to the blood-draw at 6:28 a.m. (We don't do these early morning trips just for the fun of it - LK's blood has to be drawn before her first medicine dose of the day.)

(You can catch a glimpse of my pretty new jogging suit in this picture. Rest assured the bottoms are black, with stitching in this beautiful aqua color. This beautiful aqua color, which is (hopefully) flattering on my top half...would so not be flattering on my bottom half!)

Then after a breakfast that included (among other things) some yummy baked oatmeal, the children and I headed out...

Our final destination was our monthly co-op pickup in a town about an hour away...

But first....

We headed to our local coffee bar (o.k....it's really a gas station...we so do not have a Starbucks here!) with the sole intent of getting me a beautiful cuppa Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino Goodness (see what you started, Kami?).

And I didn't even get the small...

...oh no, I got the medium. Oh, yes I did. Happy Birthday to ME!!!

And then we headed back home to forget something that Elisabeth had forgotten.

And then we left home again when Elisabeth found that she really had already put it in the Silver Bullet.

And then we headed to the Tax Commissioner's Office to pay for tags for both our vehicles. (Hey, Jas, who is the genius that decided we should register both the vehicles under my name, which means that both sets of tags come payable on my birthday every year?!?!?!)

But then we finally headed to our co-op pickup.

It was a much smaller-than-normal order, so all our stuff fit in these two coolers...


...well, except for that 16 lb. bag of oats that Daniel is sitting on.

We, as usual, had so much fun at co-op. I'm on the distribution team, so we show up (with 6 or 7 others) a couple hours before the pick-up time. Co-op is a great combination of healthy food...and socializing. The kiddos get to play, play, and play with their little friends during the whole thing...and I get to talk with new and old friends while we work to get everything distributed.

And today at co-op, my sweet friend Arica gave me a box of Sno-Caps for my birthday. LOVE. THEM! How did she know I loved them? She just gets me. I always knew you loved me, Arica - and I always knew I loved you! Thank you, friend!

We're gone for hours (usually at least 6) for the co-op pickup, so we always pack our lunch and eat there.

What do you get when your daughter helps pack a picnic lunch?

Well, I don't know about you and your daughter...

...but what I got today was a very unusual ice pack!
(yes, this is the ice pack made famous here)

AND, this daughter? It was my 8-year old, not my 5-year old! Elisabeth cracks. me. up!

When we got home from co-op, I had so many nice e-mail, FB and phone messages with birthday greetings, it was absolutely heart-warming! The only hiccup in my day: When I got home and was listening to messages on our machine, someone started singing "Happy Birthday" and before I looked at the caller ID, my first thought was "It's Kris!". It was not. I cried.

Because the overall co-op order was much smaller this time, we got home earlier than usual and the children still had time for their afternoon rest-time (Oh, rest-time, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...)

Lily Kay is the only one who regularly actually sleeps during rest-time anymore...the rest just read for that hour and a half. The children have been taking turns for the past couple months having rest-time in my room with me (I spend their rest-times doing computer-work, and the computer desk is in mine and Jas' room). The only stipulation is that they have to be quiet - no talking during rest-time, not even to mama! So today was Elisabeth's turn in my room...and after a little bit I could hear heavy, very regular breathing behind me, and when I turned around, this is what I saw:

My precious 8.5 year old baby girl took a good, long nap today! She apparently wore herself slap out playing at co-op today! (Yes, that is her beloved lavender blankie there with her.)

And birthday girls should not have to cook supper, right? So we had Chinese for supper:

OH, how I love fried dumplings! And these taste as good as the ones we ate in China...at least I tell myself that anyway, since I don't have much recourse...

After supper, Jas (and his helpers) finished putting together the basketball goal.

It is now ready to see hours and hours of playing time - YAY!

And after the children were tucked in their beds, Jas and I finished the evening by snuggling up and watching an episode of Psych on www.ch131.com. (Shawn and Gus are cray-ZEE!)

Thank you, Lord - I can't imagine a more perfect birthday.(sigh)