Happy Birthday To Me

Life is so beautiful. It's not always easy. It's not always what we expect. There are times when we struggle, times when we are sick, times that we are mistreated, times when life throws us curve balls, times when we grieve devastating losses, and even times when we think it can't get any worse. But regardless of its challenges and pitfalls, life is still beautiful, and I'd prefer it over the alternative anyday.
On December 17th, I celebrated my 43rd birthday....to God be the glory! Yes, I know that each year that passes is a reminder of the aging process, and maybe I'm crazy....but with each passing year, I feel younger and more zestful than ever. It's not because I'm rolling in dough or living in the lap of luxury. I'm far from it. In fact, financially, the year 2009 has been the most difficult that I've ever endured as an adult. But on Thursday, my 43rd birthday, I still felt like celebrating all day long.
In fact, the festivities began the night before. One of my best girlfriends treated me to an Atlanta Hawks game. It had been several years since I'd gone to one, and I'm not really a sports fan, but I had a blast just hanging out with my sisterfriend and cheering for the home team. Final score...Atlanta Hawks 110, Memphis Grizzlies 97. On Thursday morning, I got up thanking God for another inhale and exhale; another chance to celebrate life and for the mudslide of blessings that He has given me over the past 43 years. After my morning devotion and getting dressed, I stood by the staircase of my home and called for my older daughter, who is home from college for Christmas break, and asked her to take photos of me so that I could capture year 43 the same why I had done 40, 41, and 42. I don't know...but ever since turning 40, life has had new meaning; a new spice has added that has given it new flavor. I placed the first photo I took as the first one in this post and the last one as the last photo on this post. After my amateur photo shoot, my daughter and I jumped in the car and drove to Radio Shack where I blessed myself with an upgrade from the Sony Ericsson that I'd had for the past two or three years. While so many have now moved up to the iPhone, I'm just reaching BlackBerry status. I chose the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and have spent hours both hating and enjoying the process of learning how to use it (I think I've finally gotten the hang of it though).
When my younger daughter arrived home from high school, we were making plans for my birthday dinner. It's an annual event for me. Every birthday, my one wish is that my family and I all go out and eat together. But like I said...sometimes life throws curve balls. En route from work, my husband got stuck in a major traffic jam behind a five-car accident that had all lanes of the highway closed. Time ticked away as he sat frustrated on the interstate. Finally he called and said for the girls and me to go out, promising that we'd do something as a family later. Our plans were forced to change, but the dinner was still a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed what had become a girls' night out as my daughters and I dined at Chilli's, one of my favorite eaterys. After feasting on a basket of chips and salsa, I chose shrimp and fries as my celebratory meal. Simple but delicious. The waiter gave me a free dessert (chocolate cake and ice cream) to mark the occasion (thank goodness I didn't have to endure the embarrassment of a stream of servers standing over me clapping and singing off-key). I broke every one of my eating rules when I ate that dessert, but oh well... :-)

December 17th was a day filled with cards, gifts, food, photos.....and writing. Oh come on...you knew I had to get some writing done, right? What's a birthday without writing (LOL). I received tons of thoughtful well-wishes on my Facebook, MySpace, and Tagged networks......some from people I know and others I don't, but I was grateful for each and every one. I am extremely appreciative for all the gifts, both virtual and actual that I received, but as with most people, I have a personal favorite among them. What was my favorite gift to mark my 43rd birthday? A serenade. I received a special rendition of "Happy Birthday" by way of a phone call from my all-time favorite gospel singer....a six-time Grammy nominated, 3-time Stellar Award winning legend. If you really know me, you know who that is. If you don't know who it is, I'll just leave you guessing (smile).

Happy Birthday to me.....