Happy Birthday to me...

Today is my birthday and let me tell you...it was pretty special from the time I woke up until the time I left work.

The day started out pretty normal. Having just completed a two-day marathon of candidate escorting and chauffeuring, I was all prepared to focus on the desk items I had to set aside this past week. I walked into the office, carrying my scrambled eggs and milk (from the cafeteria), sat down to eat, and saw my supervisor carrying the "Happy Birthday" banner. She taped it to my upper desk cabinets at which I had to laugh. She blocked my access to them, not that I ever needed to actually get in there today! Next, several coworkers came up to my desk to serenade me with the birthday song and to hand me birthday cards, my coworker (and partner in office crime) Teresa baked an angelfood cake for me, and another coworker brought in nut bread. Next one of the deans comes up to my desk and says she's taking me to a birthday lunch with the rest of our small subdivision group. Alright! Then I notice THE CROWD approaching my desk, carrying mysterious objects and looking mischievous. My supervisor approaches with a box in hand, full of what looks like cat litter and dotted with strange green and gray things (trees & rocks I eventually learned). She stops and says in a very serious voice, surrounded by many of my coworkers, "Sonya, We just want you to know that despite how much we may kid you, we do support your efforts outside of work." (this is paraphrased - I can't recall the exact words) "So here is your own excavation to work on. Here is your shovel (a spoon) and your pick (a knife)." She places the excavation box on my back counter, presented me with my tools and fossil bag, then made me pose for a picture. LOL

This all occurred prior to 9:00 am, which is when our College's all staff meeting took place. During the meeting, one of the deans mentioned the December birthdays, after which we were serenaded yet again. After meeting I was bombarded with emailed birthday wishes, e-cards and all sorts of people dropping by to exclaim "I can't believe you're 30!" Yep, I know! I don't look 30! heheheheh Thank you Mom!

I now only had one-hour before my next meeting began, but I first wanted to follow up with a coworker about a question she had raised in the All Staff meeting. When I returned to my desk a few minutes later, there was a vase of beautiful yellow and white daisies on my desk. (I LOVE daisies!) Now, several weeks ago my fabulous friend Becky called to ask for my work address and I knew something was up. After all, she could have just as easily gotten it from one of my emails with my "signature" at the bottom. But she said it was her that was going to send me something. I believed it...hook, line & sinker. Boy, was I wrong! The flowers were from another fabulous friend and really made my day feel special. I didn't get much of any work done because I was a goofy, smiley person all day, constantly admiring my flowers and being distracted by thoughts of what great friends I have...my desk was covered in cards of good wishes, my email was full of good wishes, I had a full-scale excavation going on on my back counter (I've found three dinosaurs thus far)...what else could improve the day? How about LUNCH??

They took me out to Givanni's, which I'd never been in before. It was pretty good and my planned 1.5 hour lunch turned into 2.5 hours. lol Oh well...that's what vacation time is for, right? When I returned, I was still really unproductive. I just couldn't concentrate on anything. At the end of the day, I lugged home a chunk of angelfood cake, feeling pretty good with the world. I knew my refrigerator was empty so I stopped and picked up some Iowa chops for dinner, came home and discovered my recent book order had arrived. Now I can practice Spanish with Mikey!

It's now 10:42 pm and I've spoken with my mother about adopting one of the family jack russell terriers (I pick her up on Sunday). Her name is Sadie and I once posted a picture of her in the blog. They're having problems with jealousy between the adult house dogs and Sadie, the new house puppy. This is the most ideal solution to the problem and I don't really mind. She is so adorable!! I just need to do a trial run to make sure my cat won't eat her for breakfast. ;) I've also spoken with my two fabulous friends from Phoenix. I'd say it's a perfect ending to a perfect day. Who knew turning 30 would be this enjoyable?

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I fixed my hair differently this morning since I'm finally getting used to the shorter cut! I can't believe the number of compliments I received! "I like this color and cut on you!" (It's my natural color - I just let the highlights grow out and they were chopped off with the short cut.) "Your hair looks so soft and shiny!" (Yes, it's all natural - the chemically damaged parts are nearly gone.) "This color really brings out the color in your eyes!" (Are you sure it wasn't the green jade pendant I was wearing? My eyes are close to that color anyway - which is why I like it.) LOL Sheesh! How much warm fuzzies is one person expected to handle in a day???