My Day So Far--Happy Birthday to ME

I've always liked having a birthday.  Not for presents or birthday wishes, although those are nice :) I just feel special...it's MY day.  I think I could be a hermit and still like my birthday.

I'm 56 today. I've never been one to be reluctant to tell my age.  It is what it is.  Kids in school used to tell me I don't seem my age...that's because I am CHILDISH!  I know it.  I am a big baby about so many things.  But in a lot of ways, I think that's a good thing.  Even though I am quick to get emotional, throw a tantrum (small, mostly self-contained), cry about little things.  I am also quick to laugh, and love, and find enjoyment in so many things in my life every day.  

So I want to tell you what makes me happy today.  

I woke up when Jordan's alarm went off this morning at 5:30.  He gets on the school bus at 6:20, so...wow...that's early.  I don't usually get up, and Bob is the morning guy to see Jordan off and drive him to the bus stop.  

One huge source of happiness here.  Jordan, my beautiful emotional handful of a boy is getting up happily to go to his new school.  At midnight last night, he was in my bedroom telling me how happy he is that everyone has been so nice to him at his new school.  In his last school, I think people saw him in his early anxiety-ridden-extreme-ADHD days, and just never were able to either see the loving person underneath, or the monumental strides he made in conquering those early issues.  Suddenly, he is in a new situation where no one is judging him based on anything but how he is right now, and how he is right now is GREAT.

Cute, or what?

I am so happy about this, that my eyes are leaking :)

Another BIG happiness point is my morning-loving husband.  I can't go into all the reasons that he makes me happy, or I will cry all over my computer.  This morning's happy things include how he is in a good mood and happy to see me EVERY morning when I get up (later than him), and how he took the time to finish decorating this cake for me :)

The candles were actually pretty cool, because when lit, they virtually self-destructed...I thought it was cool, anyway!

There are so many things I love about him, but I don't want to sit here and cry today, so I will just tell you that when spouses were handed out, I got the best one. I'm sorry about that, for you, but that's just the way it worked out.

My third source of huge happiness sent me a beauteous clarinet rendition of a well-known song today. And if I could figure out how to play it here, I would.  Let me just say it was high the first time he played it...it was an octave higher than high the second time...lovely. He later called to sing to me this same song with similar expertise...really.  I think he needs to save these recordings for his application to grad school. If that doesn't work...he can just show them his beautiful, sensitive, make me laugh, green-eyed face, and he's a shoe-in. Or a Schu-in? What does that expression mean, anyway???

I'm right about this.

After I had my coffee and bird-watching time this morning,

Not a bird.

I drove to Paynesville, where Bob and Nathan were already working on our continuing issue.  While I was driving, I got a call from Bob, and he put Nathan on the phone to wish me happy birthday, and tell me about THIS:

After the week we have had with trying to get the well on our property operational, I don't think I will EVER take water for granted again!  Anyway, I was driving along this morning, just finished talking to Bob and Nathan and thanking him for the birthday present of figuring out the water situation, and GOD, in his infinite humor, noticed I was just about to enter the beautiful Ontonagon valley, on a cloudy day, and just in that instant he made the sun come out and light up the whole valley all at once. TAH-DAHHH!!! Like that.  Never doubt that God can be a showman when he wants to....it was so OBVIOUS that it made me laughed, and I yelled out in my car, "Oh, SHUT UP, God!!!" He knows I didn't mean it in a mean or disrespectful way...it was just such a big, blatant, instant reminder of just who I should be thanking for all this stuff....like water.  It was funny. You should have been there. 

We stopped work at Paynesville early today because we both have a cold, and because of lack of interest in working on Friday afternoon :)  Bob and I drove to Ontonagon to do some errands. (Happiness is riding in the car with the man you love), then went home for naps, and cake and ice cream, and BLTs.  In that order. We watched a good movie. And that was that.  

I was too hungry to pose my food properly.  It was delicious. 

As I was going up to bed (and to finish this post), Bob explained to me that he has some ideas for birthday presents, but since we are trying to not spend money until we are MAKING some again, a present would come later.  I proceeded to tell him about all my presents today:  Birds to watch, RUNNING WATER, cake and ice cream, cupcakes and streamers (he surprised me with these in Paynesville this morning), BLTs.  I didn't even mention the message from God or the three wonderful men in my life.  But wow...my special day was as happy as I could ever want. My cup runneth over...really.