As Kenny Chesney says, That's the Good Stuff.

People kept asking me Monday what kind of special thing I was going to do for my birthday. And I kept joking that I was going to bible school. Between work and bible school there was no time for official celebrations. For the last few years, Hubby and I have gone to the Jimmy Buffett concert for my birthday, but that just didn’t work out this year. At the very least we usually go out to dinner, but that didn’t happen either. We’ve just been extremely busy every night for the past week. We’ll probably go out this Saturday night. The funny thing is that even though Monday seemed like a very routine day, it was a very good birthday because of the little things that happened all day long.


As I drove to work early this morning I was thinking about the way Monday came down and I suddenly felt very blessed. I got to go to a good job. Mid morning Monday my parents stopped by to see me. At lunch time my brother and nephew stopped by and visited with me for a little while. In the afternoon, Teen Angel came by with very meaningful gifts and a box full of warm scones. A very sweet card from Hubby with some vacation spending money was waiting for me at home. Dozens of friends wished me well on Facebook, sprinkling messages on my Facebook wall throughout the day. A friend handed me a home burned CD that night of a Lucinda Williams album she had bought and knew I would love. Cards came with warm wishes from friends. And I got to witness the smiles and laughter of lots of children throughout the evening. Lots of sweet simple pleasures filled my day. All day long I had little reminders of the beautiful connections I have with the people in my life, and I went to bed feeling very satisfied with the day. It felt like a celebration, even if there was no dinner or dancing or bottles of wine.

So this morning, I smiled to myself as I pondered all of this during my commute, listening to the CD from my friend and witnessing the rising sun. I cranked up the stereo, sang with Lucinda and congratulated myself on a very happy birthday. I am blessed, folks. Truly blessed. And I don’t need a party to prove it.