Birthday Bonanza Day 1

Yesterday was my birthday. If you are reading this, there's a good chance that you already knew that.  



If I had had a cake this year,
this is totally what it would have
looked like.

 I love birthdays. I think that my birthday is one of the most important days of the year. Okay maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. I mean, obviously, there is one birthday that is slightly way more important than mine.

I had to ask a friend if posting this picture
is sacrilegious.  She said no because
he looks so happy about getting cake.

I think it is totally appropriate that Jesus' birthday warrants an entire season rather than just a mere day. 

In fact, I think everyone deserves to celebrate longer than a day.  You've survived another year - what's not to celebrate about that?  

And so, I like to wallow in my birthday.   I like to drag out my birthday revelry for 3-4 days if possible . . . beyond that and my family starts to complain.  

And, I don't mind if everyone knows it either.  Yesterday morning I announced my birthday to everyone in Main Street Coffee.    If I could have, I would have walked around all over town wearing a tiara and a "Birthday Girl" sash.

And, I'd probably still have it on today, too.

 So, what did I do to celebrate the first day of my 38th year?


The day before my birthday, I got my "hair did."  I typically only do this twice a year . . . because I'm high maintenance like that.  But, while I generally don't care too much about the state of my tresses, I do not like to have "roots" on my birthday.  This is my birthday hair:



 

When I got home, there was a package waiting for me that came all the way from the Aloha state . . . thanks, Wendy!

And, on the actual day commemorating my birth, I began the day with a birthday run with my running buddies (we really need a cute name for ourselves): 

Look how ungorgeous I am before 6:00 a.m. 
I included this picture only because
it's the only one that I could find

We got in a swift seven miles. Since I had big plans to eat my way through my birthday, the extra calories burned were nice to have in my back pocket. 

As we were running, Allison saw something on the road and turned back for it.  Happy Birthday to me!   Meet One-Eyed Willie:

There was a ceremony this evening, and
Spooky Juliet and One-Eyed Willie
are now living in wedded bliss. 

Can you believe that we actually found another doll on the road?!?  Of all the terrific luck!  

When I got home from my run, my kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and Awesome Jeff made me a birthday omelet:

An omelet is beyond my culinary skills.  In fact,
I'm really not good with any food that requires flipping
(i.e., omelets, fried eggs, and pancakes).
  If ever you see an omelet on this blog,
it's the workmanship of Jeff or Ihop.

After safely depositing my kids at their schools, I had birthday coffee with this group of contortionists:

After main-lining coffee, I worked a little until it was time to stuff my face again.  Then I met Awesome Jeff (the grey to my goose) and Elizabeth (the peanut to my butter) for a birthday burger at the new Prime Burger Dive:

For dinner, my mom came over and cooked me a birthday spread of roasted chicken and a medley of vegetables. 

It was awesome because she is awesome.  

 

This is not 'yo momma.
This is JoMomma.

And, of course, my birthday dinner included brussel sprouts!!

brussel sprouts on the left

zucchini, yellow and red peppers, and carrots in the middle

spaghetti squash, cream cheese, and herbs on the right

I also pulled in a nice birthday haul. Here is some of my birthday swag:

And, I typed part of this post on my new iPad.  Aren't Jeff and the kids great?  They totally support my Apple-Early-Adopter addiction.

It was a great day! And, it was just beginning because the birthday festivities continue tonight. I'm dragging some close friends to a new restaurant in town.  Tomorrow, Jeff and I are headed to Tulsa to spend the day with my best friend from college.  I feel like there may be some good pictures to come out of this weekend.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday a great one. Thanks to Jeff for the kind words yesterday that showed that he really loves me to the core.  And, most importantly, a big thanks to my mom for giving birth to me 37 years ago . . . way to go, Mom!

Another year older,

Jenni (a.k.a. jMo)