2 Score ... 4 Decades ... 40 years ... 14600 days ... 350400 hours

Happy 40th Birthday Princess! Reluctantly, I pulled myself from bed at 5:30am. I was tired, but this time not from a naggingly dry throat. Instead, I stayed up too late and also drank two beers at Barley’s. But once I was up and moving around the sleepiness subsided and I was able to recapture a respectable level of energy. After finishing my sit-ups and push-ups I checked the local temperature. It was a balmy 33 degrees. Yeah! We finally cracked the freezing barrier! The more reasonable temps allowed me to put less emphasis on my attire. That was a welcome change. What’s more, the day’s high was expected to reach 60, and even warmer for the next couple of days. Can anyone say, Spring! After catching up on the headlines and such, I delivered Mindy’s birthday coffee. She was in a good mood. But why wouldn’t she be? It was her 40th birthday. I returned downstairs to stretch, meditate, and then dress for a run. I decided to forego the gaiter and winter gloves but still used head and ear cover along with normal running gloves. That was just about right. I was comfortable through the run’s entirety. The kids were all up when I got back home. Jacob had already presented Mindy with his homemade birthday card. The original plan called for the other kids to sign it too but we weren’t able to make that happen. I still had all the kids wish Mindy a Happy B-Day though. I promised that we’d celebrate later that evening when I got home from work. I still had a few things to finalize. I asked the night before what she wanted to do for her birthday dinner. We discussed going out but settled on dining in, choosing instead to dine out Saturday when we’re kidless. However, Mindy left it up in the air this morning. She left with the wee ones just like any other day. Before getting in the shower I went to the basement to fetch a couple gift bags and colored tissue for her two presents. I planned to get everything packaged and wrapped while at work. After finding just the right bags and boxes, I headed off to the shower. Jacob was downstairs at his usual 7:55am. He’s very good at that – a self-reliant trait I admire much. We left for the bus stop a couple minutes later. I headed home after the bus arrived to load my gear. I took all the gift wrappings along with me. I arrived at work at 8:25am. It was a lovely, sunny morning. What a day for a birthday! I had an email waiting from one of Mindy’s old friends asking for direction to Barley’s. I sent a Mapquest map along with directions. I also had an email from brother Glenn acknowledging what a good deal the Timberline/Mt Hood Spring pass is for only $99 – ski now thru May 25th. The work day moved swiftly. I chose not to leave for lunch. Instead, I ate at my desk - an entire can of tuna fish and a small tub of fresh cut veggies. That was enough to tie me over. Because it was Mindy’s b-day, I asked my boss if I could cut out early. He was very agreeable to the idea. I must’ve left around 4:15pm. I talked with Mindy just before leaving. She said she changed her mind and wanted to go to Bravo after all. Oh no! I did my best to talk her out of it. I just didn’t have the energy or desire, especially not with four kids. We talked about it for a few minutes, and in the end, she conceded and agreed to have me pick-up some fast food on the way home for her, Jacob, and I. Chipotle was the unanimous choice. In turn, she would stop at Wendy’s for the wee ones. But before heading to Chipotle, I stopped at Kroger to pick-up a small cake and some roses to go along with the gifts I had in tow. The weather was lovely, by the way – 62 and sunny. Chipotle is located in the heart of Mill Run, essentially on the way home going the back way. Mindy and the kids beat me home by a minute or two. Mindy was just plucking Landon from the Honda when I pulled up. I had to make a few trips to the car to get all my stuff. I walked Ykraps before much else, although I did kiss and wish Mindy Happy Birthday. It was a nice, slow paced walk for a change. The weather was ideal. Back at the house, Mindy was already cutting/prepping her new orange birthday roses. Her off-white anniversary roses are still hanging in there from last week. She’s so spoiled! The wee ones were already eating there Wendy’s. We emptied the large chipotle bag and each found our burrito. Mindy & Jacob both had chicken burrito bowls. I had the real thing – a barbacoa burrito. I could eat only half, maybe even less. But I ate about half a bag of their tasty chips, too. After dinner Mindy opened her cards and gifts, first the one from the kids. She seemed to like the silver dangly star clustered earrings. Jacob signed the card on behalf of all the kids save for Rocky, who signed it himself. I got Mindy a Charles Penzone’s gift card good for a top notch full-body massage. She seemed to like the idea. Next, we placed candles on her cake and sang Happy Birthday. It went something like this: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mindy, Happy Birthday to you. Boing! After dinner and celebration the kids and I headed out back to play in the yard. Not only did we have some rare warm weather, but it was still daylight, too. We didn’t want to let it slip by without enjoying some of it. As one might expect, the kids swung on the tree swings. We must’ve stayed out there for nearly an hour. Mindy ultimately joined us. Prior, she was inside organizing the kids’ laundry and school bags. With muddy feet, we all headed back into the house. I asked the kids to remove their shoes at the door. Rocky didn’t listen, and later said he had to poop so he tramped through the house with his muddy shoes. Dammit! Everyone else complied. Soon we had the kids up getting ready for bed. Mindy wanted my help. I headed up to assist. The tuck in went smoother than expected. Landon has yet another cold and as a consequence, was easier to deal with because of it. He went right to sleep without a peep. Mindy and I tuned into Idol elimination night. In addition to the normal three, they were also picking three wild card contestants from the prior 36, or the remaining 27, which was already narrowed to eight. Interesting choices. We watched some Science Channel programming afterwards – cosmic gamma ray explosions. We headed for bed around 9:40pm.