31

I managed to squeeze in plenty of celebrating for my 31st birthday this year.

On Saturday morning I challenged myself to another half marathon.  Determined to PR a sub 2 hour race, I had been looking forward to it for weeks.  But when the time came, I was ill prepared.  I had planned on racing with my cousin/running buddy as I have once before.  But at the last minute, I found out he wasn't coming.  So nervously, I arrived alone and managed to figure out the bus shuttle (something I had never done before).  I got shuttled to the start, casually talking to other runners along the way. 

Soon the race started and I was eager and excited and felt ready.  Unfortunately, I had no way to pace myself.  The race had not provided pacers, much to my surprise, and I had really been counting on that when I found out my cousin wasn't coming.  And on top of that, I couldn't get my GPS to work.  But I put my music on and set out at a steady pace.  I typically do my training runs (4-6 miles) at a 9:00 pace.  Even with a 9:30 pace, I should have been able to finish in 2 hours.  I ran steadily, enjoying the downhill but taking it easy so I didn't burn out.  I eventually tired of course but it never got discouraging or really difficult.  Eventually, I came across the finish and for the first time really, realized what had happened.  I saw the time clock at 2:09.  I'm sad to admit that my heart plummeted and I was incredibly disappointed.  I realize that I was only 10 minutes over my goal but I know I could have pushed myself harder or paced myself better than that.  I missed my goal and that was hard to take.  I accepted my medal, collected my gear, stayed briefly to get a snack, but with no one in particular to celebrate with, and not really in the mood to celebrate, I made my way to my car and left.

I found a nearby gym, showered and got dressed up for the next adventure of the day--a cousin's wedding.  I met my husband (and our fantastically fun family) at the wedding luncheon and was thrilled to see everyone, share in the soon-to-be-wed joy and thoroughly enjoyed a delectable lunch.  We were seated with cousins right next to the head table and laughed and talked and and listened to the speeches.  It was a beautiful experience to share with family, soon continued by the wedding itself.  We were so happy to be included in the event and it was an incredible experience.  We lingered around the temple for family pictures, absorbing and sharing that amazing euphoria and delight unique to such a special and sacred occasion.

As family dispersed to ready for the reception, we slipped away.  Because months before the wedding date had been announced, we had bought theater tickets for that night.  So we made our way to downtown and met both sets of our parents for dinner at the Olive Garden.  Fun conversation, great food and soon we were on our way across the street to see Wicked.  It was amazing!  Having previously seen it in London, I wondered how it would compare.  It was very different, with some unique portrayals and personality but still bursting with talent and energy.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially that we got to share the evening with our parents and both of my brothers and their wives.

Having been awake for 20 hours, I wasn't very good company and slept half the ride home (sorry honey), but happy with such a wonderful day.

But guess what.  It actually wasn't my birthday.  I considered Saturday to be my celebration (13 miles in honor of turning 31, time with family and friends, an incredible date night with dinner and theater), but my "real" birthday was two days later.  Husband had to work all day, briefly waking me for a kiss and a "happy Birthday" at 5 am.  So a few hours later, the girls and I were up and about. I taught a water aerobics class, we stopped at the school to find L's class and meet her teachers and then hurried home to change and ready for our field trip.

One of my amazing favorite cousins (I have lots of favorites, but I rarely get to see this one in particular as she lives in Boston) was here for the wedding and we spent the day together at the zoo!  We took a ride on the train with my girls squealing delight at every thing they saw.  We visited the giraffes and zebras and monkeys before stopping for lunch at the "Beastro".  The girls begged for animal-shaped juice bottles which they proudly carried and repeatedly drained through the afternoon.  We rode on the carousel, where E got to ride her beloved favorite zebra.  And we visited the animals, where they loved elephants, sea lions and polar bears and they looked adorable toting their cute animal umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun.  Their favorite animal of the day was when we got an especially great view of the tiger as he, in a rare occurrence, left the shady comfort of his usual spot and sauntered down into perfect view.  He wandered for several minutes and then continued into his wading pool to cool off.  As he did so, he was directly on the other side of the glass from us, probably only 18" away from L.  He turned directly toward her with a giant yawn which probably would have terrified her except that she had turned away from him in that moment.  Soon he pattered away, back to his shady lounge spot and we were off again.  Finally we arrived at the much awaited and anticipated splashpad.  My cousin and I enjoyed ourselves, sitting nearby talking and laughing at our kids' antics.  L spent nearly the whole time on the slide, making round after round.  A made countless friend, organizing several trains down the slide, directing her newly banded crew on the pirate ship and teaching the other fairies how to dance in the fountains.  E spent most of her time in the fountains, running through the jet sprays, splashing through puddles and trying to get my cousin's baby to follow her and play with her.  My cousin's two kids enjoyed themselves as well.  Her baby stuck close to us for the most part, especially fascinated by everyone's shoes but her 4 year old sat on one of the fountains, adjusting and moving to spray the water directly at people as they passed.  We stayed until close, reluctanly saying goodbye and loading the kids up again.

Close to home, I picked up a pizza but worn out from the hot sun and fun activities, we didn't eat much.  I put the kids to bed early and then lounged in a bubble bath with a book until my amazing husband arrived home late at night.  He surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of red roses and white flowers, as well as gourmet cupcakes to share.

And lastly, tonight.  My sweet little L, always so sincere and perceptive and eager to share and please others, begged her daddy to take her to the store.  They returned home with a chocolate cake and the three girls piled onto daddy's lap to decorate it with m&ms.  After dinner, daddy served the cake, they sang to me,  got extra rounds of hugs and kisses and concluded a particularly wonderful birthday.