My 40th Birthday

The whole week leading up to my 40th birthday, I actually enjoyed going to the mailbox...

Some of the cards made me laugh.  Some of the cards almost made me cry.  I loved and appreciated each one.  Those of you who not only took the time to pick out and send me a card, but also took the time to write some words of encouragement?  You are AWESOME.

Some of my favorites...

"In dog years, you'd be 280, but in giant redwood years, you'd only be about 3 1/2.  See?  Turning 40 is all in how you look at it!"

"Anything worth doing... is worth over-doing!"

"40 is when you deserve to celebrate yourself and take pride in your strengths without apologizing".

And Dr. Seuss always knew what he was talking about...

"Another year older?  You ought to be proud!  You ought to get boisterous, noistrous and loud!

Just think of the things that you know how to do, the sorts of things no one can do except you.

Your brain's full of wherefores and who's whos and whys.  You think someone else could be nearly as wise?

You're one of a kind, you're uncommonly rare.  You can't be replaced 'cause there isn't a spare.  

Okay, you're another year older, it's true.  But how many people can say they are you?!"

A lot of people wrote such sweet, encouraging things on the cards, and I plan to keep each one and put them in a book.  

My mom's card was incredibly sweet, and included a piece of paper with my grandmother's handwriting that she found.  It is a list of scriptures, and on the top it says "For Jenny".  It almost brought me to tears.  So did my gifts...

A personalized photo album from my parents

A diamond bracelet from Doug's mom, that had belonged to his grandmother.

Some pictures drawn by my sweet boy.

A book written and recorded by Jim and Dylan, that is probably the best gift I have ever received in my entire life.  I get choked up every time I listen to it.

Since it rains every year on my birthday, I decided we should go somewhere that had indoor and outdoor things to do.  Kalahari Resort was perfect.  They have indoor pools and water slides, as well as outdoor, along with a huge arcade, bowling alley, ropes course, animal park, zip line, pottery studio, indoor play area, miniature golf, and restaurants.  It is basically a kid's heaven, and since I'm just a big kid, I had a blast!  Okay, I didn't particularly love the ridiculously LOUD arcade, but Dylan sure did.

On the way there (it's a 3 hour drive), we had to stop for gas.  One problem... the system was shut down or frozen or some nonsense, so we waited about an hour there, before finding out there was another gas station only 10 minutes down the road!

We stayed two nights.  The first night Jim and I hardly slept, due to a very excited little boy, who kept exclaiming "I just can't sleep!" every hour or so.  The next night he slept fine, but some @$$^*)# decided to vacuum at 5:00 in the morning and woke us up.  So we had very little sleep, but loads of fun!

Now, because I am certain I could not say it any better, I will close with the words of my amazingly sweet husband in my "Birthday Tale"...

"In time, she came to realize that, in fact, the blessings in her life, in the here and now, were not easily counted.  The love that surrounded her was immeasurable... she concluded that, 40 is but a number, and the adventures yet to come both soothed and excited her soul.  

Besides, it's the journey not the destination.  And so, they lived happily ever after.  The {End} Beginning".