What a great birthday!

First of all, I hope you've enjoyed the fun birthday music. The song that plays first cracks me up every time I hear it, so I just had to include it! It is labeled as being by Adam Sandler, but I know he is not the one singing it. Sounds more like Weird Al. Maybe Adam Sandler wrote it? I don't know, but I love it.

My day began with all of the kids singing to me & bringing me pictures they had drawn. The kids started off the day in their usual way--arguing & picking at each other. That is, until I made a declaration. I told them that the very best gift they could give me would be to NOT ARGUE & FIGHT all day long! Sarah even drew up a contract & had each of the others sign it! ha! Perfect!!

We went off to church & arrived on time. (ahhh...that was great...I hate to be late!!) During Sunday School, there was a knock on the classroom door & 2 of the sweetest little girls in the world came in to give me a card & some flowers. You see, when we first came to our church, Larry was the singles pastor. We immediately bonded with one particular single mom of twin girls. The girls were almost 3 at the time. They're in 1st grade now. Over the years, we've loved them & watched them grow and they always make sure to take care of us when we have a birthday or a special day of some sort. What a sweet treat they are!

We went on to the worship service & enjoyed a good time of worship & learning there. At the end of the service, one of the sweetest treasures of our church (a sweet lady who I won't name because I'm sure she'd like to remain quiet about this) hugged me & told me happy birthday...and then slipped $20 into my hand & whispered "spend it on yourself!". Wow. Such a blessing! I got myself a Schlotzsky's sandwich on the way home. YUM! I haven't had one in ages. Boy it tasted good!

After feeding the kids lunch, Savannah got online like she always does every weekend. She sat here reading & then asked "Mom, who is this email from?". I came & looked over her shoulder. It was from Lori H---, the daughter of my friend Lisa who passed away in 2006. Before Lisa died, we set up an email penpal relationship between Lori & Savannah. They wrote back & forth for a little while, but eventually it fizzled as childhood friendships often do. That was a year or so before Lisa died. Savannah wrote to Lori after Lisa passed away, trying to comfort her in a 9 year old sort of way. We never heard from Lori after that, and we didn't really push the relationship b/c I was afraid that Lori may have not wanted to continue. After all, writing to Savannah might've been a reminder of a friend of her mom's...and it might have made her sad. I don't know. Maybe we overthought it, but we just didn't pursue it. Jerry & I talked last year (around this time of year) about getting the kids together over the holiday break and we discussed Savannah writing to Lori again. He said it would be OK for her to do that, but it never really materialized. It had been long enough that Savannah didn't feel comfortable writing, felt like they didn't have anything to talk about anymore.

And then today, my birthday, out of the clear blue we got an email from Lori. It's the first time we've heard from her since Lisa died. It was like a birthday wish from Heaven.

I don't think Savannah had a clue why I had tears running down my cheeks when I explained who the email was from. Wow. Thank you, Lord.

I took a nap this afternoon. Ahh....bliss.

Larry had been given the night off to take me out, so after our nap, we loaded up & went to Red Lobster for supper. Can you say "Heaven"? I ate grilled garlic shrimp & coconut shrimp. I had cheddar bay biscuits & salad. And more important than anything else, I watched my kids laugh and smile and enjoy time together. I listened to Larry tell them silly stories. I stole a few bites of Savannah's cheesecake. I watched Samuel get chocolate on his nose & up his arms as he & Sarah shared a cookie & icecream dessert. I couldn't be more blessed. I think I smiled more today than I have in a while.

And to top it all off, Larry & I watched a movie together tonight after the kids went to bed. That's rare. We rent movies now and then, but we never seem to rent ones that we BOTH want to watch. (We watched The Bucket List.)

If Jesus were to come back tomorrow, I am ready. I have a life well lived. I don't regret anything. I am thrilled to be where I am right now. And it just keeps getting better. Thank you, Father, for 33 fabulous years!