happy birthday to me

Yesterday was my birthday. I love my birthday like some people love Christmas morning or a friend of mine loves July 4th. I count down the days usually from June 1 (45 days). This year I started even earlier when I found a countdown timer for my iGoogle page. My friends and family expect this of me and I would hate to disappoint them so I continue to hype it up every year. The past few years I have had grand images of what would happen on my birthday. Great parties or intimate dinners, long hikes with the family or a trip to the movie theater, beautiful jewelry or a CD I've been wanting. I have to admit sometimes I was a little disappointed on the actual day because it went so fast or we couldn't do what I wanted to do. One year, my husband fell asleep at 9:30. I am forever teasing him about this!

Anyway, to avoid the disappointment I decided this year not to make any plans. I helped a friend out by watching her daughter during the day and then she invited us to the pool in the afternoon! That was definitely a good birthday thing to do. Then I made exactly what I wanted for dinner and I even made my own cake. I am really picky about cakes so I knew that only I could make the one I really wanted. So even though no one took me out to dinner and no one brought me a cake and I had no presents to unwrap, this was the best birthday I have had in a long time. I spent it with my wonderful children - who can now swim without floaties! - and some good friends. My husband did the dishes after dinner and put the girlies to bed. No expectations, no disappointments. If only I could apply this to other areas of my life....