Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Let me start off this blog by wishing my mom a very happy birthday! Honestly, I wish we could be there to celebrate and with her a happy birthday in person. Hopefully, we’ll get to Minny sometime soon. Fortunately, they’ll be joining us on our trip west this fall to visit Jake.

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As I celebrate mom’s birthday today , I’m reminded of precious years’ celebrations. Perhaps my favorite is when we celebrated her birthday as an entire family in Flam. It was wonderful seeing her sit between her mom and wonderful sister. Their smiles were boundless. Truly, it was a trip of a lifetime. I’ll never forget sharing this trip with my kids, my parents and my grandma. I’m also looking forward to returning to Norway.

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Today was a great day for many reasons. First, we get to celebrate my mom – she’s awesome. Secondly, my friend and former employee (who I consider family) got great news today. His CT showed that the chemo is working! Hallelujah! I would, however, ask that you keep my friend B in your prayers. Lastly, I carried this positive energy with me all day at work. I freaking killed it today!

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During lunch, I hung with the dogs and watch the ducks (Bitey 1 and 2) enjoy the mangos our tree dropped. Fortunately, the ducks didn’t find the mangos until after I took the dogs out. Before heading back to work, I spent some time meditating in legs up the wall pose to refocus for the rest of the day. This helps me expel the stress and energy of the morning. Consequently, Anakin tried to join me, which always makes me giggle.

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Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I absolutely slayed my day at work! That’s three days in a row!

*I ran 1.5 miles and walked a mile. Instead of working out in the morning, I decided to run after work. 

*The family and I are back to watching Thirty Rock. We’ve now moved on to season six.

*I made a new beef tips recipe in the Instant Pot tonight. It was super yummy!

*My favorite surprise on the underwater cams, I watch during work, is seeing an octopus. Today I watched the safari cam, which never disappoints.

*There were big thunderstorms today all afternoon. I really need to look into a surge protector for my work equipment.

*Today’s word of the day is self. I love to recenter myself before heading into the second half of my day.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies, and mosquitos? Thankfully, the fly traps arrived today. Emphatically, I’m absolutely sick of those little buggers.