Last Year of the *Twenties*

Well  it's safe to say that yes, I do feel older. That's all it took. Rolling over to the big 2-9 definitely made a difference. Or it could be that this week is "tapering week" for our marathon training so I haven't been as active when it comes to a strict running schedule...or it could be that I am dealing with a malfunctioning phone and internet that are causing me to lose hair daily...or it could be that there are about 20,674 events/things/commitments that are weighing on my shoulders....oh yeah, and the holidays are coming up. Enough said. Despite feeling like an old lady post birthday celebration, my actual birthDAY was quite fantastic and memorable. In fact, it was one of the most relaxing birthdays I can recall. I must say that I was sort of dreading another birthday without my momma. Who makes a day more special that a sweet, thoughtful momma??? I stumbled upon this picture from several years ago of a birthday poster she made me. This was always one of my favorite birthday traditions that she started way back when I was little. It still had me giggling even after I was grown and married. Check this one out.....

But life goes on and low and behold I made it through the day without a candy birthday poster. And I must say that I'm one lucky gal to have friends and family who step right in and do just what a momma would do. Let me tell you 'bout my day.....

I broke my usual firm birthday rule: one does not need to feel obligated to workout on their birthday (even if a training schedule says so). But my 29 year old bones were craving some exercise (ha) so I awoke early and went out for a run with Jai. The weather was fantastic and the run was a great way to get the day started. Blood pumping? Check. Happy baby? Check. I hurried around but made sure to give Hallie some extra reading time in bed after she awoke. We were out the door around 9:00 and I dropped her off at Miss Paula's for the day (feeling only slightly guilty for leaving her on my day off). A picture perfect day of relaxation followed. I sunk in to the chair while getting a pedicure and closed my eyes for a bit of peace and quiet. I hopped on over to the office to drop some paperwork off and was surprised with a generous gift from my boss and card from my coworkers. From there I headed downtown for lunch with Katie, Nanny and Riley who surprised me by showing up. We tried out the new place, Carlito's, which I absolutely LOVED. It's so nice to have a new place to dine. The four of us had a great lunch and I was unexpectedly showered with gifts from all three of them! Riley handed me his phone with a picture of my new dishwasher on it, Nanny slid me a much-needed gift card to Maurice's and Katie offered to cover my massage I was about to get down the street. This girl was feeling just a tad bit spoiled and a whole lotta blessed! Riley headed back to work so the girls and I shared a delicious dessert before I went down the way to get a massage. The stress seemed to melt away. Goal achieved. I had not a care in the world when I walked out of that place. I floated home to get a jump start on packing our bags and found a delicious treat dropped off by Jai at my side door that I promptly gobbled down. I then floated back over to pick up Hallie girl in a sugar coma. She was in quite a goofy mood and had enough energy to stretch around the sun. I was in such a relaxed state that it took a few messes around the house to snap me back to reality....it was time to begin chasing that two-year-old around again. Day of pampering was over. But a night with Riley and friends was about to begin. The three of us drove to Enid where Hallie had a few people who were awaiting her arrival. We dropped her off with David, Lisa and Dara without a doubt in our minds that she would have an absolute blast! And it was apparent that she did based on the pictures I received that night. After sneaking out of the house while Hallie was down the hall (yes, I know that's mean), we hurried to OKC to meet Chelsee and Laura and their lovely counterparts, Tim and Tyler, for a long-awaited dinner at Cheesecake Factory. The six of us got to know eachother/reminisced/shared inappropriate dinner commentary/had a perfect night. The red velvet cheesecake topped it all off.....

A fabulous end to a fabulous day. And I mean every bit of that statement. It really was a FANflippinTASTIC day thanks to my family and friends near and far! 

Riley and I ended the night down the road at the Waterford watching an in-room movie and soaking up what was left of 28. Come back 28!!!!! Twenty-nine has proved to be fairly challenging thus far. The first week of the last year of the twenties (did you get that?) has been a doozy. I'm hoping this is not a trend for the year. Otherwise I'm going to need to load up on wrinkle cream and anti-aging serum STAT!