birthday month

Some friends in England got me hooked on this idea of a "birthday month".  You don't just have a birthday.  You don't even just have a birthday week.  We should all get a birthday month. 

I declared today my birthday.  It has been pure bliss.

My actual birthday was 3 May.  The day didn't work out how I had hoped/planned.  This is what I had planned:
1.  sleeping
2. reading for fun
3. watching frivilous girl tv
4. taking naps

That's all.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

This is what actually happened:
1.  slept in (but as soon as I woke up it went downhill from there. . .)
2.  left house to run errands
3.  as I left the house I realized that I locked my housekey inside (it was on my regular keyring, I was using the keys Philip left me for the Pathfinder we recently purchased)
4.  went to post office + local cleaners to have two dresses altered for this summer
5.  the dresses were pinned and tucked just so and then they told me it was going to cost $70. um, no thanks. 
6.  had to figure out how to get back into the house to clean it for the company coming in the pm
7.  drive to property management company office to give a sob story in hopes that they would let me in w/o charging 50 stupid dollars
8.  find out that prop. mgmt. office LOST all copies of our key
9.  drive all the way to Maryland to pick up Philip's housekey
10.  sit in traffic.  at one freaking thirty in the afternoon.  really?!?!?!?
11.  get to his office looking digsusting, get the keys, break down sobbing
12.  come home and spend 3 hours cleaning house

So nothing hugely tragic, just "one of those days" and as a girl who grew up w/ birthdays being a big deal - you don't just want to have "one of those days". . .
I do have to say, though, the day ended on a great note:  we had our pastor and his wife over for pizza (though they were quite cross when they found out I didn't tell them it was my birthday and invited them over) AND one of my sweet classmates left a pot of my favorite flowers (tulips) on my doorstep w/ a really sweet card.

So I decided I needed a re-do of my birthday.  So 10 days later, I have had just that.

It's 4:45 and after a day of sleep, Brothers & Sisters and reading I'm now fighting the nagging feeling that I should be studying.  But I have time carved out to do that tomorrow, so I'll try to savor the final hours of my day of nothingness.  Seriously, a day not having to leave the house and getting to do my own thing is my favorite way to spend 24 hours when given the choice.  This has been perfect. 

I fought the urge to work at the hospital today.  I worked 3 days last week where I left the house at 6am and got home after 7pm so that I could have this week off.  I'm so glad I stuck to it.  You can't put a price on having time to recharge and regroup.

I'm enjoying it while it lasts. It's been the first and only day between Spring & Summer semester where I haven't had something to be doing (studying, errands, cleaning, work).  Summer classes start on Monday.  And so 18 of the most stressful, busy, high-pressure 18 months of my life will commence.  In a matter of weeks I will be juggling a heavy academic load w/ work @ the hospital and seeing therapy patients and doing assessment at two different sites in DC in addition to having weekly supervision with 3 different individuals in 3 different locations.  Things won't really ease up until after comps next August.  By next fall I'll be applying for internships and working on my dissertation project.  Craaaazy.  I'm excited but nervous.  Please pray for Philip.  I think the next year and a half is going to be the most difficult for him.  I pray that I can get this school/marriage balance thing worked out in a healthy manner where all of my responsibilities/obligations are being fufilled with a high level of excellence.  More than anything, I want to conduct myself in this pressurized environment in a way that is reflective of Christ at my core.

Sorry I have been an absent blogger (not the first time I've said that this year, won't be the last. . .).  I have lots of picture updates to post for you over the next few couple of days.  Stay tuned!