Happy Birthday to me

Today I did a lot of mental health things for myself....all the laundry and dishes are done, my grading is done and entered, my lesson plans for next week are ready, the dog is washed and brushed (she's shedding A TON right now, I'm trying to minimize the impact of that on my poor house), I did my grocery trip for this two weeks (didn't just stay within the newly-scrimped experimental budget, but came in way under), all of the carpet that I could vacuum before the vacuum caught fire (I guess it's only fair, between the time it was Dad's and time it's been ours it's gotta be about 7 years old) is clean, I hung the new American flag I found (I've been stalking a nylon one with embroidered-on stars and sewn stripes....none of that printed sheet fabric for our flag!) on sale, and the vases around the house are stocked with zinnias and sunflowers from my garden. It feels so smiley and nice!

Since it's a "milestone birthday" for me (you only hit a decade once a decade, right?), I've been thinking about the last ten years. Ten years ago, I had just done a study abroad in the Dominican Republic that changed my life.....destroyed my framework for the world and required me to re-think poverty, privilege, consumerism, race....and made me determined to do something productive with my language skills. Since then, I've served a mission, gotten married, started teaching at one university, had a baby girl, worked on a Golden Age theater project, finished an MA, started teaching at another university, had a baby boy, finished PhD coursework, passed PhD exams, run my first two half marathons and first marathon, defended a dissertation proposal, bought and moved into our first home back near family (HOORAY! FINALLY!), trained a puppy (well, mostly, we're still in-process), and started teaching full-time at yet another university. It's been a good ten years!

So, I'm not really big into elaborate celebrations for birthdays. We do family parties for the kids, with cake and ice cream and they get presents. I'm not one to complain that my husband didn't buy me an expensive gift or bring me flowers (I'd much rather take trips with him from time to time than have money eaten up by small things!) But I have to admit that right now, while he's going out to get some pop and the best pizza for miles (happens to be about two miles up the road) and some hot wings (total splurge, we never buy wings even though we both love them), with the kids in tow, I'm feeling like it's the best present ever.