Happy 37!

So I wasn't thrilled with turning 37 this year. There's this mental issue I have with 37. When you're still 36, you're in your "mid-thirties." "How old is Brandi?", someone may ask. "Eh, she's in her mid-thirties I think." Nope....now that I'm 37, one might say that I'm "almost 40". I know, I know. 37 is still technically mid-thirties. I'm telling you, it's my mental issues (although when I discussed this with my brother earlier he agreed with me).

Let's add to that a diagnosis of bronchitis yesterday, after feeling pretty yucky over the weekend and coughing up all manner of stuff. So now I'm slightly depressed about being 37 and then sick on top of that, which elevates the "oh my word I have my first 10k in 47 days" stress just a bit. So I wasn't expecting a lot out of today, since I really couldn't do much anyway.

The universe had a different idea.

I took Kate to school this morning, and the Facebook birthday wishes had already begun. One of the many things I love about Facebook is how great you feel on your birthday with hundreds of "happy birthday!" posts on your timeline. People don't have to bother, but they do. I think that's awesome.

Then I talked to Dad on the phone. We chatted about him and his cancer issues and another friend of mine dealing with similar things, and then we had to laugh a bit because of the silly things my daughter comes up with. Like last night, when she told Nick that she had "chosen not to go to school tomorrow." I talked to my brother on the phone for a while, and we discussed running stuff since he's a pretty amazing runner and I'm not, and he also gave me some bronchitis tips.

Meanwhile, my friends Jake and Mandy are keeping me entertained by texting me silly videos about my birthday, and I'm laughing so hard that I have to cough for a good 10 minutes after each video. Although it hurt, they were totally worth it.

Right before I left to pick up Kate from pre-school, my sweet friend Aimee stops by with the best care package ever - loads of chocolate (a square a day keeps the binge-ing away! she wrote), a green smoothie drink, and a bottle of Purification essential oil for my illness.

While Kate was at gymnastics after school, I managed to walk one brisk mile before my lungs started protesting (I usually try to walk in the neighborhood while she is at her lesson) so I casually walked the remainder of the time which pushed me over my step goal for today. (That's right - despite being sick, I've still hit my 10k steps each day - they may not have been brisk, but they were there).

When Nick arrived home from work, I was given two birthday presents - a really pretty blue stone necklace and earring set that Kate picked out for me, and some more Bath & Body Works smelly good stuff. Then we set out to dinner at Genghis Grill and Kate talked Daddy into some birthday ice cream at Braums. They still have pumpkin ice cream, so I had a small scoop.

Once I got home, I decided that Momma needed a long, hot bath with my new bubble bath and drank some hot apple cider with honey in it for my throat while I relaxed. While I was in the bath, a friend alerted me to the fact that my blog post about walking last year had been featured on Leslie Sansone's Facebook page! Dude - I'm sort of famous. I love all the sweet comments from total strangers (and a few of my friends!) It was like the cherry on top of my day.

So far, 37 isn't all bad.