I was so filled with anticipation that I could hardly sleep last night! Really, who gets this excited at my age? Oh dear, that makes me sound really old, doesn’t it. I am not reticent in the least to announce that I’m 42 years old today. Or is that 42 years young? It depends upon how you look at it I suppose. What I know is that I was never this giddy over my birthday as a young child!

Perhaps it is that I now savor and appreciate each year of my life. Perhaps it is that I more fully understand how incredibly lucky I am to be alive and healthy. Perhaps it is that I have learned to grab on to each moment if joy as it comes. Or perhaps I have learned that life is an unpredictable journey of twists and turns; that interwoven amongst the challenges and heartache are moments of sheer bliss. That is a life to be grateful for!

Since I can’t sleep, I get up and start my day with a nice bubble bath. The entire house is quiet and I enjoy the solitude before the onslaught of another hectic weekend. I take this alone time to reflect and ponder my intentions for this next year of my life. I have come so far and made so many changes in my life that I never could have dreamed possible and yet I still have a sense that I have much farther to go.

Anthony calls bright and early this morning and it’s good to talk to him. I am so grateful that he has access to a phone and has the ability to call me on important days. It’s good to connect and it helps. I miss him so much, especially this time of year when we are celebrating so much. This is the 3^rd anniversary and birthday that that he has missed due to military separations. That’s not a happy thought. Nonetheless I am enthusiastic for a wonderful day of soaking in my birthday and a fresh new beginning of another year.

Tanya stops over to bring me a homemade dairy free, gluten free chocolate fudge cake. It is almost as beautiful as it is delicious. She also brings me pumpkin muffins because she knows how much I like pumpkin. I hide those in the freezer to make them last all week. I receive a delivery of absolutely gorgeous flowers from Anthony which is totally unexpected. That man must have paid for the florist’s vacation already this year; he has ordered so many flowers. The kids are anxious to give me my presents, so we do a birthday mid-day party. Caitlin and Alex bought me a sinfully delicious smelling perfume in a stunning bottle.  Elijah presents me with a coupon for a trip to a museum of my choice. Anthony has sent a charm for my Pandora bracelet and a pendant charm of a blue stone that they mine in Afghanistan. Gifts from my family are always the best.

Elijah has a double header of soccer games today, which is not really how I would have chosen to spend my birthday afternoon. Daniel and Liz come to the first game and get to see Elijah score an incredible goal. We are so excited for him. He runs down the field doing his little fist pump. It is so cute.

I have been looking forward to going out to dinner with my sister to celebrate my birthday all week long, partly because I enjoy spending time talking without the interruption of our kids and partly because I love Panera. There aren’t a lot of choices that I can eat, but they always have amazing soup. I nearly salivate over my black bean soup in a bread bowl. I mostly avoid that amount of bread, too many carbs, but what the heck, I’m living large today. It’s a nice quiet, comfortable dinner and a much needed break from the demands of the weekend.

I cap off my day with a 2^nd piece of cake with Elijah and a Skype call with Anthony. This was a truly spectacular day filled with birthday wishes too numerous to mention; visits, text messages, Facebook posts and phone calls. I am astounded at the number of people who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. Even in difficult times I feel blessed to have such a life.