A Perfect Birthday

 

Well, here we are on Wednesday of this very busy week and I can report that I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. 

The morning started off with texts and calls from my aunt, the kids and my mom. My mom has a tradition of calling all of us on our birthday and singing the worst rendition of Happy Birthday she can muster up. She's been doing it for as long as I can remember and it's definitely something we all brace ourselves for each year, but we get a lot of laughs out of it. 😀

I also got a FaceTime call from my Tennessee kids. It was so sweet to hear them sing to me and get to catch up with them on my birthday. I'll never stop saying that I miss them 💛

 I then ventured out to claim my free drink from Starbucks, which was a nice treat. My drink of choice is called a Mocha Cookie Crumble, which I barely remember every time I pull up to the speaker to order. Nevertheless, I was treated to a free one and that started the day off perfectly.

David and I had the final walkthrough on our soon-to-be new house and then grabbed a quick lunch together. 

Afterwards I drove to the Nothing Bundt Cake store and got my free bundt cake they offer. Red Velvet was the choice of the day there. Of course, knowing that Morgan was baking me a cake for dinner that night, I saved the bundt cake for another day. 

I had a few hours of downtime before dinner and then David and I drove to Collin and Morgan's for tacos and cake. The meal was delicious and the cake was perfect and so yummy. 

The Tennessee kids FaceTimed us and joined in singing Happy Birthday again and watched me open my gifts. Since Collin and Morgan had just been to visit Ted and Alex the week before, Alex had sent my gift with them, which was such a sweet surprise.  I received some very special gifts that made me cry and one that really surprised me, but just made me love my kids even more.

Every year (for so many years now) Alex has made me homemade toffee for my birthday. But that very morning I mentioned to David that this would be the first year I wouldn't have my special birthday candy, now that the kids were in Tennessee. Little did I know, Alex had made it the week before and sent it home with Morgan. This meant so much, that she would take the time to make sure I had my candy. Top it off with the pictures of the grandkids I got as gifts and that's all I needed to make my day complete.

However, I can't forget that my mom sent me a box of Fickle Pickles (I've mentioned them here before), which are custom made pickles you can't buy in the grocery store. That's always a treat. And David came home with beautiful tulips, which are my favorites.

All-in-all...I had an amazing birthday and felt very loved. 

And it's funny what a difference a year can make. Last year I turned 60 and I wasn't thrilled about it. But this year, at 61, it didn't bother me a bit. It's just a number and I'm still here and so grateful for every single day that I get to live this life, with the people I have. 

Today's going to be a calmer day with more packing and a few errands to run (and lots of sweets to snack on!). 

I think I'll start the day with the free breakfast item that Chick-Fil-A gifted me 😀 I mean, this birthday week is shaping up to be very nice, wouldn't you say? 

I'll be back soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Let's Begin Again...

 Well... what does one say when they come back from taking a very long break? I wasn't sure I would ever return to this space, although I missed every one of you, so I guess it's no surprise that I'm back.

There's so much to catch up on, and then again...where do I begin?

When I decided to quit blogging, I deleted all of the previous posts. And that's ok. I'm not writing to keep track of anything. I'm just writing because it's what I do. I'm writing to connect to other women, to encourage and be encouraged. And that's an ongoing thing, so what was written in the past served it's time and now I will start fresh and tell you all the Lord has been doing in this current season.

I will start by saying that the irony of bringing back the blog on this Monday, this week, is that it's about to become one of the busiest times we've had in a while. But let me take you back a ways and fill you in from there.

Here goes...

As you may remember, we moved back to our home in January after trying to sell our home and then renovating it and moving back in. Things were just going along as normal for the most part. I was enjoying my kids and grandkids during the week, David was working and doing well and life just felt normal.

But, par for the course (as my mom used to say), when things get too comfortable...look out!

My oldest son Ted started feeling the call to move to Nashville. This has been coming on for years and we knew it was just a matter of time. So in July he was there pursuing some things and by September they were packed up and heading out. So many feelings watching our babies (big and small) drive off for good. I cried for weeks. 

But in the meantime, on July 30th, David lost his job...again. This time it was due to a company buyout and par for the course...they laid several people off and eventually closed that location down. And here we sat, once again facing unemployment and an unsure future.

But the Lord had other plans; ones we couldn't even imagine.

I will say, as much as I despise social media at times (most of the time), it can come in handy when you need something and this time it paid off.

The weekend after David shared on Facebook that he had been let go, he got a call telling him that his hometown needed a City Manager. He had served on the city council for 14 years before we moved, so this was not out of the realm of possibility.  It's something he's always felt called to be involved in - local government - but thought those days were over once we moved out of that city.

But, like I said, God had other plans.

I'll not go into all the details, but the response was overwhelming once the word got out that David had applied for that job. Everyone was so supportive and after weeks of going through all the formalities with the mayor and council, he was hired as the City Manager of his hometown and we were thrilled.

His love for his hometown has never faded and now he was going back to be a big part of its future. But it meant something else...we had to move again. 

In order to run the city, you must live in the city and that means moving...AGAIN. 

So, on this very week that I've decided it was time to start writing again, my house is full of packed boxes in the dining room, we have the final walkthrough and the closing on our new house, my birthday is tomorrow and I'm sporting the first cold/allergy issue I've had in months.  So much for getting comfortable.

There's a lot more to the story, as far as watching God work and put the pieces together, but I'll leave that for another day.

Mostly I just wanted to return to this page and this place where I can share my heart and enjoy the friendships and feel connected once again.

I hope you'll follow along 💛😊

It's good to be back.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!