Happy Birthday

I absolutely love birthdays. When I was younger my mom always made me feel so special on my birthday. She would ask me to give her a list of three things I wanted and she would buy me one of the items I told her. She would make me a cake then my dad, brother and sister would sing Happy Birthday. It wasn't that I received some extravagant gift, it was just the way she made each of us feel on our birthday. I like doing the same thing for other special people in my life. I want them to feel the way my mom made me feel, loved.
So begins the tradition of the birthday "week". Now I have to say that I didn't intend for this to happen but somehow it happens every year. My birthday isn't until Thursday, however my friend took me out today for sushi. Thursday the family will go out to dinner, Friday my dad is taking us out to lunch, and the following week I have another friend I'm meeting for a birthday lunch. I use to joke with the pilot that every year I would have a birthday week.
The best gifts are the thoughtful ones, the ones I know that my friends really thought about. At Christmas time I received one of the best gifts ever. When my friend came to visit, I tortured her by making her watch an episode of the Cowboys Cheerleaders. This is a show I watch every year with my son. Anyway for Christmas she had a magnet made especially for me that is a cowboys cheerleader with curly hair and hazel eyes. It made me laugh and it was perfect. Gifts are not about how much you can spend to impress somebody, they are about the thought. Really thinking about how someone will feel when they open it. Will they know you were thinking of them as you picked it out?
So here goes another year, another birthday, and another reason to eat lots of good food and yummy cake :-)

A Fun Adventure

The pilot had a layover in St Lucia, we decided we would all go with him. I didn't realize however that the flight from New York to St Lucia would be close to 5 hours. For us to get to New York it takes close to 4. So we flew about 9 hours to get there to spend 24 hours in St Lucia. It was worth every minute!! This was also mine and D-boy's first stamp in our passports. My thought along the way was how cool is it that we could do this?? My son is 6 and went to St Lucia, some people will never go there in their lifetime. I'm incredibly thankful for my husband being a pilot and that we could go on such an adventure.  Since the resort was all inclusive we ate as much as we could. We left midnight Friday night to arrive at 1 pm Saturday. Then we left Sunday at 1 pm to get home at 1 am. Lets just say D-boy and I were a little tired. Once we arrived at the resort however we couldn't get into our swimsuits fast enough.
On the way home I watched Stanley Tucci board our plane. The pilot was flying us back from St Lucia to New York. I ran to the front to tell him of the celebrity on board and he informed me that Matt Damon was also on our flight and he had just met him. What?? As I very slowly walked back to my seat I looked and their Matt was sitting with his 2 little girls. Honestly in my lifetime I never thought I would see a celebrity that close. No one really bothered him during the flight and I saw him get up a couple times and talk to the flight attendants. My one big moment is I used the restroom after he did. That sure is a story to share with my future grandkids ;-) I have one picture of him carrying his daughter on the plane. I thought it was amazing that Matt Damon had paid 1 million dollars to rent out an entire resort on St Lucia and still flew back to New York on a regular airline. Many of his guests had flown in on private jets.
Again I had no idea that when we decided to join the pilot to St Lucia that their would be a celebrity on the flight on our way home.
I have to say that was the best weekend I've ever had. And it looks like at the end of May the pilot will be flying to Aruba. Not sure we will join him, but I've looked at the photos of their hotel and they have a private island with flamingos and iguanas. I'm going to have to give it some serious thought!!

Life Changing

The moment I walked out of my last job I knew my life would change. I wasn't sure how but I knew things would be different. At first I struggled, I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know what would define who I was as a person. If somebody asked me what I did, what would I say? I do nothing? I wake up after 8, get my son ready for school, if the pilot is here we spend the day together. Doesn't sound very exciting, but to me its wonderful. The truth is I discovered that I could be a better wife and mom. I started to focus on spending time with God daily and reading His word. Just having a little bit each day reminds me of the person I want to be. I want to be loving and kind to the people I encounter. I want to have a happy family and a happy home. I want to find ways for people to wonder why I'm different, why am I so positive and how is it possible to have such an amazing marriage after 18 years? Its because of Jesus. That sounds too simple but the truth is my relationship with God has become deeper since I left work. And I've noticed because of that relationship, my relationship with my husband, my son, my friends, and the rest of my family have been better as well. I still consider myself a work in progress. I don't know what my next steps are but I want to be open to anything God has in store for me. The truth is leaving my job allowed me to become a better person. I no longer focus on negative co-workers or petty daily things that don't mean much in the grand scheme of life. I enjoy every relationship I have in my life. I'm thankful for the blessings my family has and I hope that I can share those with those around me.