35 and Counting

Hi! This is your local big, fat, mean, yucky beast just dropping by to say hello. It's just been one of those icky days where I feel big, fat, mean, and...well...yucky, I guess. I don't know what to blame exactly, but I have a sneaking suspicion it could be due in part to the very self-indulgent days I've had lately. Instead of boring you with my detox day (in all of its dead car battery, lost flip-flops, whiny kids glory), I'll just let you in on the fun, self-indulgent part that preceded this, and hope that I'll be back to my hard-working, not so grumpy self tomorrow.

So, I know I promised pictures, and here it is. I realize the quality of this photo is not up to par, but that's because it was taken with a flashless phone in a not-so-well-lit restaurant.

These four couples have had a years-long tradition of going out to dinner and dessert to celebrate all of our birthdays. Three of us fall in April and then three in July, August, and September, so I guess we used to go out two or three times a year. And then we had lots more kids and life got crazier and money got tighter. And our fabulous little tradition got kicked to the curb. Now, however, it has been revived, and we did it with a bang! I can't remember the last time I laughed for hours on end to the point where the tears were flowing and the side was aching. It's a good thing, too, because we needed to burn some extra calories after the 10 pounds of thin, warm, salty tortilla chips we downed. We have so many years of inside jokes and shared experiences, that we can just say, "Taco Supremo" in a very pronounced Southern drawl and everyone dies laughing. Oh, I just love those kind of friends.

Just for a bonus, I'll give you another picture of some of my best girlfriends and me taken on a girls' night out not too long ago at all. You might be mistaking what we're doing here for the Hooters' pose, but it's actually the Very Nice Girls Who Love Jesus pose. Just wanted to be clear about that.

All in all, I went out to eat three times over my birthday weekend and then my parents got pizza for lunch on my actual birthday. (In case you're counting, that's about 2.5 times more than I usually get to eat out in a month.) Since I'm a quality time and acts of service kind of girl, that was my ideal birthday celebration. Spending time with family and friends is at the top of my "things I love to do" list. And it doesn't hurt that Chris finished off the weekend for me by cleaning our bathroom. Hello! Nothing says true love like scrubbing a toilet for somebody.

I'm so thankful for all the fun times that were had and good food that was eaten over the past few days. And I guess that's maybe why the carpool, laundry, cleaning hineys, spanking bottoms, washing dishes while I stare at the mounds of ironing kind of day I had today had me a little out of sorts. But that's okay. It's all part of this blessing called life I've been given for 35 years now. I'll take the good with the bad, the fun with the hard because it's all filtered through the gracious, loving and kind hands of my sweet Father in heaven. And the best part is, this is only a tiny, sin-tainted taste of the life He's given me for all eternity. I'll take it. :)