This is 39

It’s my birthday!

My most consistent birthday tradition is spending time, by myself or with a kindred spirit, writing at a coffee shop. All birthdays are a great time for reflection, and with my birthday nestled right between Christmas and New Year’s, I find that my mind is usually wandering to reflections on the year past and goals for the year to come.

Last year, my solo coffee shop date didn’t happen because of COVID. This year, the Omicron variant came crashing in mid-December to spoil that plan yet again; while I tested negative for COVID three times during the past week, I do have a wicked cough and I feel pretty confident that no one wants to hear me hacking and blowing my nose at a local coffee shop today.

Thanks to Tamara, we implemented a back-up plan – she is snuggling with the boys in front of a movie while I hide in the bedroom and type away.

So far today, I have typed up drafts of six different blog posts. I’ve set myself some goals for 2022. I’ve eaten a cinnamon roll. I am caffeinated and ready for the day – and the year.

38 was the year when I realized the purpose of stretching – the year when I felt sore periodically and started to worry about my knees. I got vaccinated and I started at a new school. I returned to working in person after a year of working remotely and I struggled hard with that transition – and with some realizations for what I really want from my work life in the future. Edgar started kindergarten and I became a school parent; Jonas started nature pre-school and turned from a wild toddler into a legit big kid.

Then, two months(ish) before my birthday, it became the year when my third baby came home and we turned into a party of five. A last minute event that turned this from a great year into the year when I felt like I might burst with happiness and gratitude and awe.

It has been a lovely mixed-up mess of awesome and hard and I am so grateful for all of it. Happy birthday to me and cheers to the year ahead!