I am loved, I am lucky

After kind of a rocky start, my 36th birthday turned out to be a lovely day. It was ONE degree in Frederick at 7 am this morning. One. Degree. But by 8 am it was 25 degrees and by 9 am it was 35 degrees, so the day warmed up in my favor. Not that 35 degrees counts as warm. It is just way warmer than one degree. And then there was terrible, hideous traffic, but I eventually got to work. And when I did arrive at my office, there were birthday presents and cupcakes waiting for me at my desk. Then, my team took me out for a really tasty lunch sushi lunch. I had this amazing avocado cucumber roll with two different kinds of sesame seeds. It was very well done.

The calls and emails from friends and family rolled in all day long, which felt great. I had a busy work day so I missed a lot of the calls, which was a shame. But I do get to have fun calling everyone back over the next couple of days.

After work, I picked up dinner from our favorite Indian place (where the owner remarked upon how I've lost weight. Even more reasons to love the India Grill) came home, snuggled in front of the fire, made peanut butter brownie cups and opened presents. I also threw in a twist of making half the brownie cups Rolo cups. I think they'll be delish. I ate a peanut butter one, but that's it. I'm too full to try a Rolo one.

Right now, I feel so grateful for the friends and family that I have. I know I come on here and bitch and moan and whine about all sorts of things, and yes, I have some genuine problems, but underneath it all, I know how lucky I am to have the life I lead, to have the friends I've made, to have the family I've got, and of course, to have the wonderful husband that I have. Thank you, universe.

It's funny -- every time I feel grateful about my life and write a post like this, I always have this nagging feeling like I should spit over my left shoulder and hop three times or make the sign to ward off the evil eye (too bad I have no idea how to ward off the evil eye. I'm not even entirely sure what the evil eye is) or something. Just to clarify, I'm not bragging. I'm appreciating, trying to acknowledge the good in my life, and hoping to let the people who are important to me know how much I value them. Perhaps I'm a little corny, but if you can't be overly reflective and mushy on your birthday, when can you be?