I am now 4d.

So I'm 40 now.  I think I'm supposed to care, or worry about that.  I think it's supposed to shiver me to me timbers, at least if I was a pirate.

I'm not.  In the least.  Is that ok?

No one did anything special for me today.  I'm kinda glad, and not sad at all.  I had a few really nice cards, especially the big Hello Kitty card from Hunwick that rocked.  It made me laugh.  

That's not to say that I didn't get some really heartfelt "Happy Birthdays", or a slew of Facebook messages.... I did.  But there was nothing traditionally magical.  No presents that I would never have expected, no massive gatherings and shots and toasts.

I think the fact that I'm so unshaken, and so totally OK with all of the above is yet another notch in the whole growing up thing.  We train ourselves, our friends, our kids to totally expect something extraordinarily special for our birthdays.  I know people who expect entire birthday weeks or birthday weekends...and they're well into adulthood.

But I feel like I've totally stepped back into the shadows of my life, and allowed others to take center stage, where they need to be.  Amelie is the star.  She's holding center stage.  We're the supporting actors.

More on that thought in a bit, and a timeline of today for it to make sense.

I worked, and then bolted to the hospital.  I carried at least 200 lbs of crapola to the car, and then got all the balloons into it as well (Thanks White Family and Berntsen Family!!)  Loaded Amelie into the car (got no love here in this picture at all).

We picked up Shelley's car from the dealership, and she headed home with Amelie.  I went to pick up Anya from the Adlers.  I got home, we unloaded the 200 lbs of gear, and started laundry.  Cleaned up everything, Tetris'ed it all back into place (yes, that's a verb around our place.) and had some food.

Amelie went to sleep first, and then we all loaded onto the couch to catch up on Project Runway.  We let Anya stay up to watch "The Sewing Show" with us, because we knew she needed some extra attention.  Of course both girls fell asleep almost immediately once the popcorn ran out, and I was left awake by 8:30p.

I moved Amelie into the bedroom (she falls asleep in our room in the pack and play), then moved Anya and finally Shelley.

So, that's where I sit right now....awake  and blogging at the end of a long day in which I "served" others....and I'm totally alright with that.

I think the birthday gift that I needed, that we all needed, was a few days at home sleeping in our own beds.  I've got all the girls home, and they're all ready to go crazy with crafts tomorrow...and that's a great gift to get on my 40th.  Right?

Have a good night all.