Happy Birthday to ME!

Nah nah nah nah nah nah... you say it's your birthday!  Oh yeah... today was my birthday... my "All About Me" day.  I generally don't get too excited for mid-week birthdays because I have to work for most of the day and that just doesn't seem like a fun way to spend a birthday.  But, I decided to make the most of it, so I woke up like usual and went to the 6am CrossFit class.  [Here comes the CrossFit talk... it's gonna happen... it's my blog... feel free to skip past this part... no hard feelings.]  My favorite lift is the Squat Clean and luckily that was a part of the day's workout!  Woohoo!  It was a heavy squat clean and my trainer helped me find the perfect weight.  We only had to do one rep, so I really challenged myself.  I ended up with a new PR at 130#!!!  That was a nice gift right there.  The rest of the workout included wall balls, pushups, deadlifts and burpees.  It was a fast workout that left me a winded, sweaty mess and I loved every minute of it!  It was a great way to start off my birthday!!! 

When I got home, I threw on my boots and winter jacket then shoveled the driveway (in my shorts... oh yes I did!!!).  When I came in, the family was standing around a homemade birthday cake (thanks to my sweet Joshie and our neighbor, Dawn).  They sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me my cards.  Am I starting this day out right or what???  Then things got normal again... time for work.  Jeff had been sick since Sunday, so he apologized for not getting me a gift.  Within a couple hours, a dozen roses (11 red for me and 1 yellow for Mattea) plus a box of Godiva chocolates showed up.  Jeff is so sneaky!  Shortly after that, the FedEx guy delivered the coolest CrossFit t-shirt ever... thanks to Julie, Kevin & Trae!!!  My sweet cousin Kelly sent me this amazing charm necklace with all of my kids' names on it plus one with a J+T.  It's awesome!  I also received lots of cards, phone calls, text messages and Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday.  I am so blessed! 

Since Jeff was sick, I made dinner instead of making everyone go out.  We had my favorites -- chicken, homemade mashed potatoes & gravy and corn -- followed by some spectacular birthday cake!  After dinner, Jeff & I taught the kids how to play Rummy 500.  We keep telling Alex that he needs to learn how to play cards because when he's in high school (which happens later THIS year, people!!!) and it's a Friday night and he has no money, he is going to need to find some way to have fun that is also FREE... like playing cards.  We only played to 100 since we were short on time (Jeff won), but it was still fun and I hope we play again soon.  My amazing son, Alex, learned how to play "Happy Birthday" on the piano for me.  I love listening to him play (and I love how this video ends on a close-up of Alex's nose... makes me laugh EVERY time... just watch it and see!).

One of my friends challenged me to do a handstand in the snow on my birthday, so even though it was about 9pm, I did it.  I do like a challenge and handstands are my thing, so why not?  Josh was more than happy to take my picture.  It only took 3 takes... not bad.

All in all, I had a great day.  Here's to another amazing year!