Happy birthday to me...I now am twenty!!
Turning 20 sure does have its perks. I'm already a better rhymer than I've ever been before.
Wow, two decades later and here I am. Seems like just yesterday that I was being born.
Well, not really. I don't really recall that day. Although I must say, I think I heard more about it today than I have the whole rest of my life combined.
I discovered something today. Having a birthday on a Sunday is about one of the most unbirthdayish things that can happen.
For example, I can illustrate, quite plainly what I mean.
Let me give you a run down of what usually happens at my house on Sundays.

8:30-Drag our butts out of bed
9:15-Stumble into church
1:15-Stumble back out to the car
1:30-Finally drive home because Mom's been talking
1:35-Drag our butts back to bed and take a Sunday nap
6:00-Wake up from our naps and eat dinner
7:00-Crawl back into bed and watch TV
1:00-Fall asleep one last time

And here's the run down of what happened today.

8:30-Drug our butts out of bed
9:15-Stumbled into church
1:15-Stumbled back out to the car
1:30-Finally drove home because Mom's been talking
1:35-Drug our butts back to bed and took a Sunday nap
6:00-Woke up from our naps and ate dinner
7:00-Crawled back into bed and watched TV
1:00-Fell asleep one last time

There were a few minor changes, but that was basically it. The only variation was my constant whining and the occasional outbursts of "It's Birthday Time!"
No one cared.

I was about to give up on the whole birthday thing. My faith in today being a special day had all but diminished.
However, Dad saved the day and was able to redeem himself by supplying me with a kick-ass present (iPod speakers) and some yummy, yet quite untraditional, birthday cake (Tiramisu).
Now that I'm getting to the point in my life where anyone under the age of 7 wouldn't hesitate to call me "old," I was bracing myself for the cliche scenario of trying to blow out more than enough candles needed to set off the smoke alarm.
But with either my family's unpreparedness or their determination to downplay the meaning of "one-year-older-and-wiser-too," I was left to scrounge for my own candles and was only able to dig up three previously used nubs of wax.
They were all yellow too, which I thought was strange.
But if we look at this in perspective, I think all in all, the day was great.
I didn't have to go to work, I didn't have to do any dishes or fold any laundry, and I am now counting down the days until I give myself the best birthday present ever. Vacation in So. Cal! (More on that later.)
So if in order for this great celebration of me to take place, I had to sit around all day and sing Happy Birthday to myself while the rest of the family napped, I'll take it.
Cause I'm going to San Diego and they're not! Ha!

SONG OF THE WEEK
Christina Aguilera-Walk Away

New shoes. How great is that. These are my new shoes.
Ok, not these exact ones. I doubt mine were ever photographed for a catalog. And mine also happen to be green. But they are essentially the same thing.
Comfy, comfy, comfy.
Aside from the point that I have to wear band-aids on my heels so all my skin doesn't wear off, they are just fabulous.
Just give em little longer to break in and then I'll do away with those band-aids.
Squishy and waterproof. You don't get much better than that.
I'm not typically the outdoorsy, granola type. But with these shoes, I could pass for a Mount Everest expedition guide.
They even, almost, make me want to go hiking. But not quite.
I compromised by taking the dog for a walk.

I just returned from the happiest place on earth. No, not Disneyland. (Although I will be going there at the end of the month!)
I'm talking about Lake Powell!! It may not have coined the name happiest place on earth, but it is for me.


Don't laugh. I have delicate skin.


Dad, Chloe, and I took a great hike.


Our tin can. Er, houseboat.


Cleanliness is a must. Even while camping.


Check me out in all my skiing glory.


Slalom baby! I almost drowned trying to get up.


Headfirst! Aren't I daring?

Taylor and I are nuts!

We had way to much fun with the campfire.


Doing our "fire dance."


You may be wondering what this is.


No. We're not possessed.


It's a little thing called 15 second exposure!!


Creepy, huh.

Clock. Moving. Backwards.
Day. Never. Ending.
I don't know what the deal is, but this day is NEVER going to end. I've been at work since 11 this morning. It is now 4:15.
That would be a total of 5 1/2 hours. However. It does not feel like I've been here for 5 1/2 hours. Not even close.
If I had to throw out a rough guesstimate I'd say, oh, 17, 18, maybe 19 hours?? My shift is slightly more than half over. I don't know how I've made it this long.
We've been having busy spurts off and on today. From the second I sat down this morning, we were slammed for the first hour. You'd think that would help the time go faster. I was wrong.
I think part of the travesty is that we got lunch only an hour after getting here. Usually the day is half over by the time we get around to eating. But today, I have nothing to break up the next, now 4 1/2 hours. What ever will I do?
I can only read the obituaries for so long. KSL.com only updates every so often.
I could do some online shopping, but I'm really trying to save the $.
I suppose I'll just have to sit here and suffer. Watch the seconds tick by...