My birthday gift...

It's been on my list for a long time so here it is - my birthday gift to myself - a blog. It's a step forward for me - not because I've really been stagnant but because there is so much more to life than cancer. I am very grateful for caring bridge and will continue to post my medical updates on that site. I'm humbled when people anxiously await my posts and are inspired by what I have to say but I'm more inspired by their comments.
I've been terrible at keeping up with baby books. I've taken thousands of pictures but no albums. I've chronicled the firsts through lots of Iphone videos - thank goodness for Apple, but let's face it, I'm not getting any better at organizing all of this. I don't care who reads this - it's for me. It's my gift for being 36, for being a mom, being a wife, for being a survivor, and because people tell me to write. So, I'm starting with 36. And that is today - Sunday, which is also the first and my favorite day of the week. People asked me what I was doing for my birthday and I said, "living."
Living is:

• spilled mountain dew freezes in the garage that turn into fly paper by the time you get back from the baseball game to clean it up
• squirting unwashable paint all over your kid's clothes when you tried to unclog the top
• watching double headers played by 8 year olds on the best fall day of the year
• kisses and drawings from the sweetest little red-headed girl
• teaching 5 and 6 year old girls the story f how Joshua and Caleb had courage and trusted God
• watching your husband play his guitar for elementary school kids and coach his heart out in a baseball game
• running four miles because you couldn't at 35 (or 30 for that matter)
• dozens of text messages and phone calls congratulating you on making it to 36
• a couch full of crayons, paper, and magnetic paper dolls
• knowing that you're loved, beds full of folded clothes but no time to put them in drawers
• being able to locate everyone's ipod, sunglasses, phone, belt, socks, and polly pocket, but not your own keys
• a kitchen table full of first handwriting samples that include backward "a's", Mustang, Kiss, and Poison logo drawings
• a pile of laundry at the bottom of the stairs that just won't wash itself but living is more important
• being sung "Happy Birthday" 5 times in one day, blowing out candles 3 different times
• chocolate pie, donuts, and cupcakes for your birthday 
• rainbow toenails
• legos imprints on the bottom of your foot - again
• fixing an accidental shoulder amputation on Barbie
• napkins that say, "KEEP CALM AND BIRTHDAY ON"l
• laughing til it hurts and watching your friend hold her cheeks from laughing
• auburn and strawberry blond hair that smells like sunshine
• finally being able to wear long sleeves because it's below 80 degrees
• a friend cooking dinner for you in his wife's really girly apron
• realizing that your chemo drug fits perfectly into that tiny pocket in your running shorts - guess that's what its for
• drinking coffee out of a goofy mug with a chicken on it
• realizing once again how much you love the other three people in your house
• a birthday card from your dad with 36 cents taped on it and facts about the year of your birth
• looking a the markings on a strip of trim in the bathroom where you dry your hair and realizing how much your kids have grown since you turned 35
• watching your fundraiser goal continue to climb because people are inspired by your story
• your 8 year old trying to convince his daddy to buy mommy a new car or screen in the porch for her birthday
• knowing that the wrinkles that appear when you laugh tell as much of a story as the scar on your back
• a singing and vanilla scented birthday candle that a special 10 year old neighbor picked out for you
• hot pink knee socks and a gift card to the "mom store" 
• a dead frog that really needs to be given a proper burial but life got in the way again
• realizing that your kids backpacks are still in the car from Friday
• and a book of advice titled, "WEAR SUNSCREEN.

That was just today. Thirty-six is good. Really good. KJ