Best.Birthday.Weekend.EVER.

My birthday was Saturday but let’s just say it started out on Friday for all intents and purposes (which I forever thought was “all intensive purposes,” by the way but anyways.)

I started out the birthday extravaganza all business by going to the Dolphin Tale junket where I interviewed Winter the Dolphin, who I am actually already friends with, we’re practically neighbors, really.

Also, and quite off topic by the way, have you ever noticed that cold coffee that you have just heated up is just not the same? In fact it’s pretty awful.

I’m sorry.

I’m all over the place today.

I didn’t even post yesterday. I can’t even believe it.

In fact you know what? I changed my mind, my birthday weekend actually started Thursday night with the Winter PARTY in Clearwater where Morgan Freeman showed up! But we didn’t see him, instead we saw a (very hand-sy I might add) Winter.

This angle is not very flattering for that dress I'm wearing. Now I'm wondering if I had skinny mirror syndrome or if someone had a round lens or something.

And also I had too much champagne and tipped the Valet $15 in the form of a 10 and a 5 because I thought it was a couple of dollars, as in a single and a single. Turns out it was a couple of dollars, but it was actually a 10 and a 5, not a 1 and a 1. Do not tell my husband. This is wrong on a lot of levels, one being the champagne, two being my intended cheapskatedness, and three, a touchy-feely Winter. Darn it come to think of it, I never had that crabcake that was staring at me all night either! And that’s just wrong.

So that was Thursday and it was grand!

Which led to Friday, even GRANDER!

I interviewed this guy!

We look like best friends, don't we?

And I don’t normally cheese out in one-on-one interviews but it was Harry Connick Jr and it was almost my birthday and so I alerted him to this fact and wouldn’t it be nice if he could take a picture with me.

I have also forgotten how little time you get with someone at a junket full of one-on-one interviews, I had 4 minutes with each and for some of them (Morgan Freeman) I DID most of the talking because I was nervous. DRATS! Hopefully you will see some of this sometime this week.

Anyway, that was the best day ever and it spawned a last minute Dolphin Tale Twitter giveaway because  I had this great little swag bag but we already have a stuffed Winter, believe it or not! So one lucky Twitter winner is getting my shipment of Dolphin Tale swag. (Enjoy!)

Even stuffed Winter has no tail.

And then after the junket the boys brought out my birthday present which was AN IPAD! Perhaps the subliminal iPad messages worked….

Or perhaps he just wanted me to shut up already.

I spent the night (groggily) playing. Being nervous for a whole day takes a lot of out of you.

I woke up on birthday morning at 5 a.m. to go for a 40 mile bike ride with my tri group. It turned out to be the men from the tri group and so I was the token female. But I hung in there and they pushed me and I’m proud to say, I went 25 miles per hour for a short time AND I WAS NOT GOING DOWNHILL!!

The men of the Tri Warriors.

 I saw that 25 and I couldn’t stop smiling, I mustve looked ridiculous with that grin on my bike but I said outloud, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!” and it was so symbolic on so many levels. What a great high, what a great ride, and what a great start to the big 3-6 (on the incline to 40!) and all of the above. I had tried out my new shoes and clips (thankfully I had no zero mile an hour birthday falls) and they were magical even though it took me a while to clip in (that’s something to do this week some more before Augusta THIS weekend…OHMIGOD AUGUSTA IS THIS WEEKEND AAAAAAAAACK!)

At this point, I’m thinking, what’s better, Harry Connick or going 25 miles an hour on a straightaway on a bike? It’s a tie almost! Oh wait, let’s not forget the iPad!

Then my husband cooked, my family came over, we had sangria (oh the sangria) and we watched USF win and the score was over 70-something! Who scores more than 70 in FOOTBALL?

Oh I am probably setting myself up for a pretty dull rest of the year. This is too big of a concentration of cool stuff now I’m scared. A person needs to space these things out.

I just might have scared myself for real because I felt the need to go to church on Sunday and be thankful out loud. I am always very thankful inside and I try to cherish the moments but this time I prayed real hard about my thankfulness and my 5 year old looked like such a beautiful little man in his “church clothes” doing his praying hands, it just brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

Maybe that’s the best present of all.

Best.day.ever.

That, or perhaps blowing out my candles with them.

It can only go downhill from here. Let’s hope not.

After we went to church I took the kids to Lion King 3D  because the 5 year old didn’t get to see it when we went a couple weeks ago and well, before I knew it, it was the end of the birthday weekend and it’s back to laundry and overwhelmedness but I’m ok with that.

Did I mention my dad made a lemon torte? My dad makes tortes. I love that he makes tortes. That is his specialty. He pronounces it “taught” with his New York accent. I love that too.

So thank you for all the birthday wishes on Twitter and Facebook, they meant so much!

And thank you, God and life, for giving me 36 blessed years (so far) and a pretty kickass weekend, both of which I wouldn’t change for anything.

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