The Perfect Age

So I had a birthday this week and it was a nice day.  I am thankful to all the family and friends who sent well wishes throughout the day.  It is hard to believe I am 42 this year; however, I have been informed that it is the perfect age.  I am going to take that thought and run with this as I continue through this year.  I know that God has special plans for me and I am open to His will and will try to die to self a little more.  I think it will be my goal for the coming year, in fact!  I read a reflection for the Mass readings of the day and it really hit home.  I encourage you to read the reflection for yourself...follow this link...Die and Shine.  This is important to me as I continue on my journey to seek God in all that I do so that one day I will meet the great judge and hear those blessed words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

As for my special day, I stared the morning with a nice breakfast in bed.  Michael and all the children woke up to tell me happy birthday and present my tray of delicious eggs and hash browns.  It was nice to be waited on in the morning.

Then everyone prepared to go to Mass, which is always one of my birthday wishes...family worship at church!  We arrived and Edward awarded me an extra bonus gift of choosing to altar serve (makes this momma proud!).  Father made the Mass even more special by having the traditional procession into the church with candles.  My birthday happens to fall on the feast of the Presentation.  It is also known as Candlemas as the reading from the Gospel is from Luke 2: 22-40 in which Simeon announces that he is free to go in peace because he has seen the promised Messiah who will be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."  It is also traditional the day that people bring their candles to be blessed for the year.  At one time the Christmas trees that were decorated on Christmas Eve would not be taken down until this day.  Then a large bonfire would take place with all the trees that were removed to one location.  A true festival of light to celebrate Simeon's prophesy.

After leaving Mass, we had loaded the van with all of the collected school supplies.  Nothing like waiting until the last possible link to Christmas to finally deliver our special gift of the year.  However, I always say God's timing is better than ours.  We arrived at the school (We had called ahead to make sure they would be receptive to the gift.) and the principal was waiting for us with open arms.  She and her office staff were so excited to see that we really did have enough school supplies for over 150 students.  She told me that they teachers had just had a staff meeting and were asking how they would be able to provide for the remainder of the year.  They had worried that they would need to send out notes to parents to send these needed items!  The principal was so pleased that she started asking what she could do for us in return.  We just told her to feel blessed and that we were happy to be a part of the blessing.

We then spent the rest of the day running errands.  I decided I should make a list of all the things I needed done as there was no better incentive then making momma happy on her birthday!  It truly was amazing to see how much we could accomplish in a short afternoon.

We ended the celebration at our favorite local restaurant at our special round table.  We always request this spot because it fits all of us without being cramped, but also because it makes fora fun way to play games while waiting for our meal to arrive.  We usually play some game that requires thought without needing any supplies.  For instance we played the game, we like to call "Going to the Moon," in which we try to think of things that relate to each other (sometimes in obscure ways) that we would take on a trip to the moon.  We also played a similar game that uses the alphabet to aid our choice of items.  The idea is to think of things that begin with the letters of the alphabet that you might take on a road trip.  Once an item is picked you have to remember the items that precede yours.  For instance, this round of the game included the following items:

Apples
Balls
Cantaloupe
Dad
Electronics
Fingers
Games
Hibachi Grill
Icicles
Jigsaw Puzzle
Keys
Lollipops
My Stuff
Nuts
Octopus
Potty
Quail
Rooster
Songs
Thousand Dollars
Unicorn
Victrola
Watch
X-ray Machine
Yodel
Zoo

What a list!  But it is a fun memory game and I still remember the items after several days so it is helpful to know I have a good memory after 42 years!

I had to wait a couple of days for my birthday cake but I did have one.  It was even homemade and was a nice finish to a a great birthday.

The main reason for the delay in the cake was an odd situation.  Edward and Sean got sick...Sean did not even finish his meal and Edward broke out in a rash from head to toe!  It was crazy but the only answer we came up with was peanuts.  We do not have a history of peanut allergy but that was the only common item between the two of them.  Also, they ate A LOT of peanuts while we waited for our food.  As a precaution, we are having Edward tested for the allergy and possibly Sean as well.  It was kind of scary for a short time and I thought I was going to take Edward to the ER that night...but he responded to antihistamine so hoping it was just an odd coincidence.

Oh, I also was so pleased with my gifts.  I have always wanted a set of essential oils for the family and Michael got that for me.  Also, Henry got a water bottle that infuses fruit flavor naturally into the water.  Sean bought me an apron because I am always making a mess in the kitchen and was asking for one.  Brendan and Edward made little LEGO gifts for me as well.

I am blessed beyond measure!  Thank you God for giving me these years surrounded by your creation and love!  The final blessing of the day came when I arrived home to see this one little rose bud on my rose in the front bed.  It truly was a gift of God's creation for my birthday!