"I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward." (Ecclesiastes 5:18, NET)

July 25, 2016

An unexpectedly good birthday

The third annual "Treat Yo Self Day" didn't happen. Instead of the birthday extravaganza where I lavish myself with treats from morning to night, I just went to work.

The last time I worked on my birthday? I honestly can't remember. It just never seemed like the right thing to do.

But I took most of this year's vacation days to take care of Mom before she passed—an infinitely better use of my time off. So now I'm carefully meting out the few days I have left. Ergo, the extravaganza was forgone.

Nevertheless, I always love my birthday, and today was no exception. It started out a little shaky, though. I cried most of the way to work, thinking about Mom. I wonder when I'll quit thinking, This is my first [fill in the blank] without her.

My friends and colleagues certainly turned things around. They gave me treats ...


... decorated (trashed) my cubicle while I was at lunch ...


... and as I walked back in, lunged out of their cubicles on cue and blew horns. Yes, they tried to give me a heart attack for my birthday. Thankfully, there's no picture of my reaction.

I liked the message on my whiteboard. Jasmine ran out of room to finish writing "birthday" and had to improvise. I also appreciated her omission of the obligatory exclamation point. It reminded me of something Dwight from "The Office" would write.


The cake Melissa got me was delightfully unique as well. It was supposed to be cupcakes with white icing and cupcakes with red icing arranged to look like a target—commemorating the acquisition of my License to Carry. Apparently, there was a slight misunderstanding at the bakery. Don't you just love it, though?

Not a lot of work got done, so it was practically like having the day off anyway. And in honor of the special occasion, some of my colleagues took it easy as well, spending generous amounts of time visiting with me. Now that's true team support.

Of all the birthday wishes on Facebook, my favorite ones were from Sara and Christian, my little brunette darlins'. And of the birthday wishes via phone, my favorite ones were from Evyn and Ezra, my little blonde darlins'.

The blondes & brunettes when we were at Sub Zero Ice Cream on Saturday

So when I don't treat myself, God does it for me, in His usual fashion of pouring out showers of blessings through others.

Even so, a little online shopping before bed might be nice ...

No comments:

Post a Comment