It is your birthday.

The week of my birthday, I was depressingly busy. I was covering some shifts at work, shuttling Aspen to and from school and dance, registering Aspen for kindergarten, and basically just not sleeping because LINCOLN.

So I got really excited when I noticed a wide-open schedule on Thursday, and the possibility of staying home in my PJs all day was reeeeeally appealing. On top of that, Katrina offered to take both of my kids that afternoon so I could do anything I wanted for a couple of hours kid-free.

But then one of my coworkers asked me to cover for her, and since she's going through a rough time right now I couldn't bring myself to turn her down. I know how hard it is to get coverage so I sucked it up and said I'd take her shift the following morning. I hoped and hoped and hoped Linc would sleep a little better and I wouldn't have to take him to work at the time he was ready to go back to bed. Of course, that's exactly what happened. I got up with him at 530 and he was up for the freakin' day. AWESOME.

So I dragged both kids to work for a few hours, worked late, and then spent the rest of the day trying unsuccessfully to nap Linc in his crib. When I finally gave up and dropped the kids at Katrina's, I felt amazing. I was so relieved to have more than five seconds to myself for the first time all week. I drove my birthday check to the bank, cashed it, and then promptly spent all of it on myself (and dinner).

I wandered around ROSS for the first time in a year and it was the most wonderful thing in the whole universe. I could look at everything! I could touch everything! I could talk on the phone while I shopped! I found this amazing rug and a few other pretties and some clothes.

Since it only took an hour to shop, and that was with some stalling (holy cow, everything is so much faster without kids), I told Katrina I was going to watch an episode of Parenthood before picking up the kids. She offered to feed them dinner so I took my Cafe Rio home and ate dinner by myself while watching a show. It was so luxurious! I didn't have to share or get up 100 times to get anything for anyone else.

Kev had the following day off, so he got to be on Lincoln-duty while I took Aspen to a play date at the park. It was such a beautiful day I accidentally got sunburned. It was so nice to spend a couple of hours with our friends outside in the glorious weather. And after a staff meeting later in the afternoon, I finally cashed in my Christmas present from Kev- a massage!!

Bouncing Linc and holding him for hours has done a number on my body. It felt so good to have a massage therapist work the kinks out of my neck and shoulders and back. I was so refreshed afterward I didn't want to leave. I could definitely handle having a massage every week.

The highlight of the week, though, was a moment I happened to catch at the park. One of our little friends got hurt and ran crying to her mom. I noticed Aspen look up from what she was doing, and saw concern cross her face. She left her activity and walked over to her friend, asking her if she was okay. Seeing her have such empathy and concern for another person made me feel like I'm doing something right.

Thank you everyone for your messages and gifts and love last week!

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