Turning 28

Yesterday was...my (gulp) 28th birthday....I realize that this is by no means old...but I don't know, something about 30 being just 2 numbers away is intimidating...

I woke up yesterday and it was gloomy and rainy outside..."Oh well!" I thought, "I will just have to be the sunshine!" I threw back the covers and lept out of bed, whistling a tune to replace the birds who were not singing that morning on account of the drizzle....

Ah...if only that were true....In honesty now...my eyelids hesitantly opened and I thought "sigh (yes you can sigh in your thoughts)...I am 28 today..." I rolled myself out of bed and decided to go see if I had any birthday fan mail...At this point I had not actually realized the weather...I got online and immediately my spirits were lifted by an array of Happy Birthday wishes on my facebook. "Maybe today won't be so bad after all..."

I went downstairs and Claudia was home, who is never home in the morning (well, at least not by the time I get up around 9)...She smiled at me "Happy Birthday" and started into the kitchen. I followed her and saw that there, on their table, they had left me this:


(The presents at that point were wrapped and the coffee was not yet on the table.)
Claudia went and lit the candles immediately and I kept telling her how cool it all was. She stepped aside so that I could make a wish and blow the candles out...It took me a few tries to get them all, so that either means I will someday have a shoe full of children or that my wishes won't come true or that my asthma has gotten worse than I realized after being around all the smokers in Germany...I guess we will see which of these proves true... Claudia then went to the cupboard and said, 'today, you can use this!' And pulled out the Happy Birthday mug. I laughed and smiled, it was all so sweet and so unexpected. I got some coffee and some müsli (I really wanted to just dive into the cupcakes but it seemed like I should eat something breakfasty first, so the chocolate müsli fulfilled that role. Then I dove into the cupcake, delicious. Claudia is a genious in the kitchen.

I asked her if I could open the presents and she said yes and 'warned' me that they were just silly things. First package was a box of gourmet chocolate. Nothing silly about that. Second box was tea cookies, uh YUM! Third box was these little choclate cookie type things that I already polished off (they were small, okay)... I thanked her so much for it all and said that they knew where my heart is. Ha ha! I went and grabbed my camera to take the above picture (wish I had done that first before I opened everything but picture taking is never first on my mind)...

I got to sit and talk with Claudia for a little while. She is such a kind and warm person. She has a good sense of humor too. It was at this point though, that Claudia pointed out to me the weather...Gray and raining. Unlike my happy little Disney scene above I thought to myself 'of course it is overcast and raining on my birthday. Yesterday it was warm and sunny, but no, today I will have to walk through the rain on my birthday." (I am usually such a positive person...or so I thought...) Then, while we were sitting there, the doorbell rang- the mail! My mind was off the weather.

Claudia went and retrieved the mail and brought me back a package. It was from my mom and dad. In it I found a great birthday card (my mom wrote to me in German so of course I had Claudia translate for me) and my dad let me know that he had sung me 'Happy Birthday, a little out of tune'...loved it...the box was FULL of candy. Claudia and I started laughing...'well everyone knows what I like I guess!' I gathered up all my goodies, told Claudia if anyone in the house needs any sweets they know where I live, and headed upstairs to stash my loot (aka throw it on my bed)...

I decided I had better do a little workout because I don't go to practice on Tuesdays, I coach. Being pretty sore, I decided to do a pilates video (people have you ever heard of exercise TV? You can look up their website online and do all kinds of free workout videos...if you are into that sort of thing...for many of them it will tell you how much it costs to download it, but you do not have to download it, you can just play it for free)... After this I got ready to go into town so that I could skype with Grace at Starbucks...As I was coming downstairs Claudia offered me a ride to the train station, she had to go there to pick up Cosi who was coming home, sick, from school. So I did not walk in the rain, but I did feel bad for Cosi who had a fever.

I got into town quickly, ordered a breakfast sandwich (the ones here rock the world of the ones in the states bc the bread is insanely good) and coffee frap (no, I do not think I ate one thing that was good for me yesterday...oh except some grapes that I ate out of guilt at about 1130pm)... At first Skype or my computer or something, was being stupid (no, the 'or something' does not include me, I was NOT the problem)...I was so bummed, no skype?? But it is my biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirthdaaaaay! Everyone knows that birthdays are magical days in which everything goes right. The birthday fairies must have realized that and they gave Grace the great idea to use Facebook chat. It is just like skype! (Okay, and actually I do not thank the birthday fairies for this, I thank God, He really is sweet to me, I just thought the fairies thing sounded funny, irreverent?) Facebook, continues to blow my socks off...

Grace and I got to talk for about an hour. I realized that me, sitting at a table in Starbucks, talking to my computer screen, may have been weird or obnoxious to the Germans around me...probably both...but I was willing to be that person...the funnier part is, that after my conversation with Grace I started trying to make Skype work again and I realized that during my entire conversation with Grace, the sound might have been going through both my headphones and my laptop speakers....so to add to the weird and obnoxious girl talking out loud, I might have had headphones on, all the while everyone could hear BOTH sides of the conversation...Sorry Grace, but at least they couldn't really see you--except for the little girl who kept walking up behind me to wave at you...

I spent some time reading my Bible and thinking and writing a few thoughts. The Psalm for the day, 135, was largely praising God for how Great He is and how no one compares to Him...it was cool to think that such a unique, powerful, and uncomparable being had made me and has known me these 28 years better than I understand...

After these deep thoughts I decided to do something really profound...I decided to try again to get Skype working...while I was figuring out Skype, Amanda came on! I THINK I figured things out to where she and I had a normal conversation (normal meaning she and I could hear each other but the S-bucks crowd could only hear me)...It was so great to get to talk to her on my birthday as well!

By this time it was getting closer to time for me to go coach so I wrapped up our conversation. Upon getting to the gym I realized that I do not have the combination to unlock the padlock that is on the ball cart...practicing basketball can get sorta difficult with no balls...The trickier part was that my cell phone account had just run out of minutes and texts the night before (here most people by a card that is preloaded with minutes and texts rather than signing up for a monthly plan)...I had JUST bought a new card to reload my account on the way to practice, but the instructions to do it were all in German so I didn't know how to do it...Luckily, Kjell's house (Kjell is the boy whose family hosted Carrie and I this summer) is on the same street as the gym. I walked to his house to see if they could let me use their phone to call Cosi to ask for the combination....Unfortunately, no one answered... I walked back to the gym, kinda laughing and praying at the same time...I also figured it would probably be the day the most kids showed up or no one really spoke English and I would not have Cosi there to translate...

I got back into the gym and two boys were there. I asked one of them to help me set up my phone...He dialed some numbers and listened to the automated lady give instructions (apparently the automated system in Germany is just as annoying and confusing) because after a few attempts he shrugged and handed me the phone back...I asked him if he had a phone I could use...We finally got a hold of Cosi and got the combination...We set the basketballs free and there was great rejoicing... 4 boys showed up for training. That was the most I have had. We worked on pivots and ball handling and shooting. It was fun because they all seem to have a genuine desire to learn. They want to be challenged (except for when it comes to using their left hand to shoot left hand layups)...

After practice I headed back to the train station. I spent a few minutes outside of Starbucks checking my email and deciding what to do next...It is weird spending your birthday alone for the most part... I wandered back into the mall and decided that I was going to find the next Harry Potter video (I have been watching all of Cosi's German Harry Potter movies, she had 1,2,3, and 5...I will admit, I am now hooked and I really want to see the rest)...

After searching for what felt like ages, I finally found it- in the children's section next to movies like 'Barbie Goes to Germany'...it just did't seem right...Don't these people know how dark these movies are? Don't they know about the snakes who whisper 'kill, kill kill' and the death eaters who suck out your soul or the clear teenage angst? Children's section my foot...(that thought process made me feel a little less stupid walking out of the children's section with my purchase to be)... I got the movie and headed home.

When I got there Guido greeted me with a handshake and wished me Happy Birthday. I thanked him for the morning surprise. Claudia had made this awesome chicken curry and rice dinner that I love (she has made it once before) and Guido, Claudia and I ate. Cosi came and sat with us to talk. She had been sleeping most of the day. We all chatted through dinner and it was really great. They are a blessing to be around because they really enjoy each other and are constantly teasing one another and laughing...

My birthday basically finished up with me reading more wonderful birthday messages on Facebook and email, and me watching Harry Potter and eating more candy...The 6th DVD was not my favorite...it is the first time I felt like I was really left hanging at the end...Which stinks, because I am not about to go pay another 9 euro for the next one...sigh.... All in all, a good day. The highlights were definitely all the sweet words and things that people said or did...I thank God for all the people in my life, here and far away, who make me feel like I offer something to this world, like I am loved, and like I have people to love back...I am thankful for the many reminders I have had that oftentimes it is very small and simple things in life that add up to making a tremendous difference...I thank God for showing me His love through people and I pray that He will show His love to others through me, especially in new and wonderful ways in this next year. Oh, and the sun was back out today...