Birthday Challenge: Complete

Do you have any idea how many servings of pretzel M&M's one consumes when she eats 38 of them??

That would be 2.5 servings, folks. A whopping 425 calories. That's right. Four HUNDRED twenty-five calories.

How about 3.8 nestles tollhouse cookies?? Roughly 380.

To say that I'm not counting my calories today would be...reasonable, I hope. In fairness, on this fine Wednesday, I did happen to burn something ridiculous like 2679 calories (thank you bodybugg). I will pretend that all of the calories I consumed in vastly inappropriate ways don't really matter on my birthday. ;)

Today has been the very best birthday of my entire life. In previous years, I have gone to bed so disappointed...because I depended upon everyone around me to make the day incredible for me. When this just didn't really cross their minds, I felt neglected. I go out of my way on my kids' birthdays to make them incredible. My goal? Spoil that child complete rotten. When no one thought to do that for me...it was kind of a crushing blow. I am at a very different place this year. I decided that I would make today awesome. And that's exactly what it was.

Awesome. Awesomest, even. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun. *I* had so much fun. :)

I had a couple of fails along the way with my crazy list of birthday challenge goals. For example...I didn't go to bed until a bit after my scheduled 12:32 this morning...Philip called after getting off work late, and since I was still awake, I gladly talked to him until my eyes just couldn't stay open any longer. That happened long about...oh...12:50. Then...my alarm didn't go off at 4:20 as I had planned. I awoke with a start at 5:31. So...I adjusted a bit. Counted the extra sleep (minus the time I didn't sleep before 12:50) as my first nap of the day.  And there, my third fail comes in...I only got 2 naps, counting that first one. BUT...I spent it snuggled into Philip while my kids read and played. :) WIN. For the record, I suck at napping, especially when I fill the days as full as I filled today. Also on the fail side...collecting 38 colored leaves while on a walk...it poured rain for a large part of the day. I substituted--38 different foods from the chinese buffet at lunch!! And I realized I don't have a mini-leaf cutter for my gumpaste leaves...so 38 leaves did not get cut...but 7 adorable orange pumpkins did. We adapt!! The only tasks not completed prior to midnight on 10/13: blogging for 38 minutes (here I am!!) and the 8 oz. of merlot (currently beside the computer...I'm sipping. slowly.). It. Will. All. Get. Done.

I think I overbooked myself just a tiny little bit.

As for the rest of the list...it got done. With a few variations. I realized after the kids went to bed that I had not intentionally said 38 encouraging things to my children throughout the day...so I made a list. I was amazed at how quickly I could come up with 38 things I adore about my children. I shouldn't have been amazed, really. Because I ran so much throughout the day (cramming in lunch at En En Chinese buffet, two hours out in the middle of the day for Reasa's horse lesson, dinner with my parents' at Bob Evans, taking the girls to youth group, a stop at Rite Aid (to get pretzel m&m's), and then the Salvation Army, then an hour and a little more at my parents' before picking up the girls...), I really didn't have the opportunity to eat as I would normally eat...so I really had to cram things in at the end of the day. I was still so full from lunch at dinner time that the thought of m&m's, shakeology, and the water I still needed to drink overwhelmed me just a bit. I still got all 3.8 teaspoons of peanut butter in my shakeology...but it probably amounted to about 1/4 of a serving of shakeology when all was said and done...it was totally awesomely yummy. I am stuffed. I had such a blast crossing each item off this list...and the things on the list...I mean, what a great way to spend a day!! I absolutely feel like I got hit by a truck...but...I had so much fun. We laughed so hard. We did hilarious things. We painted and giggled and mocked the horrible music that hit #1 on the charts every week of my birthday since 1973 (oh my gosh, the 70's sucked!!). The kids encouraged me throughout the day, and demanded kisses to fill my quota. My favorite moment?? When my alarm went off at 8:38, and the kids ran to me and EACH kissed me 38 times. I loved that. My next favorite moment happened when I hit 2.8 miles on the treadmill after not running more than 2 miles in months...and realized I would not be stopping for the rest of the run. I took a 45-second break at the end of the first mile, and at 3 minutes left, bumped my speed to 7 miles an hour. I realize this is no big deal, but I PLANNED to take breaks at the end of every 10-minute mile, knowing that I hadn't run and that I was significantly out of shape for running.

Have I mentioned how much I love Insanity?

Today, my house suffered. It's wrecked.

I don't even care.

I feel strong. I feel like I seriously, seriously kicked butt all day long. I threw in things that I didn't even plan to do. I wrote to our compassion child today. I cleaned a bathroom, and did a load of laundry. The kitchen is actually clean tonight before I go to bed (I told myself that stuff didn't matter today). I bought supplies for a couple of Christmas gifts I brainstormed throughout the day. ;) I had a really great conversation with my kid about something important. I realize that this day was completely selfish and totally self-focused...and that that could be an incredibly negative thing if it happened every day...but it won't. My first email this morning was a birthday wish from a dear friend. 168 friends wished me a happy birthday on my facebook wall, and another 10 in messages...and another 8 in text messages, then 2 birthday cards in the mail. Silly? Maybe. But wow. Tomorrow I will upload silly pictures that we took throughout the day...and I will remember how good today felt. And I will live off this high all day tomorrow...and for a long time after that.

I will also sleep until I have to wake up so that I'm ready for the baby tomorrow. I think I get a rest day after all this nonsense. I don't think Shaun T will mind. :)

My oldest is with my mom tonight, awaiting the arrival of my mom's Westie's puppies (she begged to be present for the births), my middle might be sucking her thumb (until I go up to kiss her one last time before I sleep) and probably dreaming about the next scene she will film for her mini-series, and my littlest...is hopefully sleeping...he struggled a bit with sleeplessness at bedtime tonight. And I will crawl into bed tonight so grateful for my 38th birthday. Grateful for every single moment of it. Grateful for the kids who helped me with 8/10 of a home improvement project. Grateful that Philip sacrificed sleep to spend the morning with us and take us out to lunch. Grateful for parents who love me so much that they let my kids blow paper at them all through dinner (then paid for it!). Grateful that this year...I got to make today something that I will never, ever forget.

I loved today. I am so very blessed.

Want a great place to pray for the 38 people who are most important to you? Try your treadmill. The downside? You might wind up in tears. It makes running kind of interesting. ;)