So This is 40!

The noise started in the kitchen around 5:30am 

and by 6:15 this troupe served me a full breakfast in bed.

They then sat on the end of my bed and watched me consume it.

It was delicious!

After the munchkins headed off to school, I spent the morning

 looking forward to my lunch date with Jotham.  

He was being so secretive...

I knew something was a foot. 

He picked me up at noon and 

kept asking where I'd like to go for lunch, 

like there wasn't a plan.

I was confused.  

I was pretty sure there must be a plan.

Since not one of my friends had called, I'd deduced they 

were all waiting somewhere for a surprise lunch and 

Jotham was susposed to get me there.

Which meant if I didn't pick the right location,

 all the plans would be foiled. 

But he kept trying to get me to pick somewhere and

I kept hesitating waiting for him to reveal the grand surprise.

Finally, it dawned on me...maybe this was it.  

Maybe there really weren't any other plans with my friends

and I was really going to be able to spend 

the whole afternoon with just him.

It took me a minute to re-adjust my thinking and happily decided I'd take 

full advantage of his afternoon off and make him take me shoe shopping.   

Our first stop was a local sporting goods store I love, 

 but rarely visit because its kind of pricey.

But guess what? they offer 25% off on your birthday.

I found the perfect shoes and with my birthday discount plus the coupon I had at home, they were too good a deal to pass up.  So, he suggested we run home for the coupon and as I burst into the door.

SURPRISE!

Some of my very favorite people in whole world ready and waiting 

for me to celebrate and spend the afternoon eating cake and playing Scrabble!

It was so wonderful to see these angel women, each of them from a different slice of my life wherein they where the special one that kept me sane day-in-and-day-out with their friendship. 

Jotham quickly disappeared and spent his afternoon running 

kids to Orthodontists appointments and music lessons.

We met up with my Dad for dinner at Cafe Sabor and then

once we came home.  The kids had another surprise in store for me!

A night at the spa!

Under Hannah's expert direction, 

those boys smothered me in lotion and massaged my hands and feet, 

brushed my hair and painted my nails.

They were disappointed the face mask they applied wasn't colored.

I have never felt more loved and blessed in all my forty years.

I was utterly pampered from the moment I woke up

until I laid my head back down on the pillow that night.

And didn't even mind the mess I had to clean up the next morning.