43

Today is my 43 Birthday! Somehow I am not sure how I got here so fast. I know as a parent you say don't blink when they are babies because the next time you open your eyes, they'll be gone. That is what I feel like today. Where have those years gone????

I know I have some boobie prizes for those years.....new reading glasses,

 unexplained male pattern baldness, snap, crackle, pop when I try to walk first thing in the morning, ta-tas that take a forklift of under wire to get them back in their rightful place. Oh, and a nice permanent furrowing of the forehead has begun in earnest 

Good times

But I am not a dweller, I find it no good to think of the things I don't have or I have lost. Actually, those things mentioned above are all things that mark my living life, and living it fully with lots of laughter and love. So I really don't mind that I have wrinkles. It adds character to my face. The snap, crackle, pop have added some music to my normally boring morning routine. Plus the kids can hear me coming and stop doing what they know they are not supposed to be doing. The ta-tas I mind a little, it makes it hard to buckle my pants.

 But c'est la vie. The lesson?

I have won some amazing prizes in my life so far

I know we bloggers tend to say we have great husbands and I worry that it doesn't come off as genuine. I truly mean it when I say my guy is a good man. He knows me so well.

He took me antiquing yesterday for the first part of my birthday present. He told me to meet him yesterday at noon across from the Consol Energy Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. 

Very cloak and Dagger, I love surprises. I pull up and I get a text that says "exit the vehicle". Ok. "turn left" and there he was. He led me and the kids down about 10 feet and we are in front of a 5 story building filled with Antiques

He had already scoped the place out and told me which floors he thought I should hit first and what I might find that tickles my fancy

I wish I had taken a picture of this place. So many nooks and crannies and amazing stuff to be discovered. The basement was the best.  Nothing had prices on it so it was hunt and peck and then ask the owner

 He took the kids down the street for a pizza lunch and I was left to browse for an hour 

uninterrupted

I have great sweet babies that make me homemade birthday cards

so I can smile more and increase the number of laugh lines around my eyes. 

And they help me eat my birthday breakfast and a special treat....fresh doughnuts

I get chocolate on a regular basis and more on my birthday

I didn't have to lift one finger to cook today

 or clean up

I am blessed with food on my table, in abundance, everyday

I feel cared for on a regular basis but I got pampered today like I have never been before. Hair shampooed and styled and a mani and pedi, at the same time

So if this is 43....

Then I know something profound that these few short years have taught me

I'll walk everyday in the Lord's grace and wisdom knowing

it's just a number.

Always being renewed,