Today is my 28th birthday and since I was born bright and early in the morning I am already officially 28 years old now.

All I really want is to be able to spend time with my family today. Making memories and having laughs with people you love is the best gift ever. But I had also signed up on Facebook to raise money for the American Association for Cancer Research as a birthday gift. I just need one more person to donate and then we'll have reached the goal I had hoped for which was for five of my friends to donate $28 to the cause.

Here are quotes from people born on March 22nd from thinkexist.com. One of them is from Reese Witherspoon. She said, "Many people worry so much about managing their careers, but rarely spend half that much energy managing their LIVES. I want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out." I like that. Reese turns 33 years old today.

Today is Sunday, March 22, the 81st day of 2009. There are 284 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 22, 1765, Britain enacted the Stamp Act of 1765 to raise money from the American colonies. (The Act was repealed the following year.)

On this date:

In 1638, religious dissident Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for defying Puritan orthodoxy.

In 1820, U.S. naval hero Stephen Decatur was killed in a duel with Commodore James Barron near Washington.

In 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed a measure outlawing polygamy.

In 1929, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel sank a Canadian-registered schooner, the I'm Alone, in the Gulf of Mexico. (The schooner was suspected of carrying bootleg liquor.)

In 1933, during Prohibition, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure to make wine and beer containing up to 3.2 percent alcohol legal.

In 1941, the Grand Coulee hydroelectric dam in Washington state went into operation.

In 1945, the Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo.

In 1958, movie producer Mike Todd and three other people were killed in the crash of Todd's private plane near Grants, N.M.

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson named General William C. Westmoreland to be the Army's new chief of staff.

In 1978, Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable strung between two hotel towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ten years ago: Acting as his own lawyer, Dr. Jack Kevorkian went on trial on murder charges for the first time, telling a jury in Pontiac, Mich., he was merely carrying out his professional duty in giving a lethal injection to a man with Lou Gehrig's disease as shown on CBS' "60 Minutes." (Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder.)

Five years ago: Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, enraging Palestinians. Terry Nichols went on trial for his life in the Oklahoma City bombing. (Nichols, already serving a life sentence for his conviction on federal charges, was found guilty of 161 state murder charges, but was again spared the death penalty when the jury couldn't agree on his sentence.)

One year ago: Vice President Dick Cheney, visiting the Middle East, said the U.S. had an "enduring and unshakable" commitment to Israel's security and its right to defend itself against those bent on destroying the Jewish state. Jeffrey Buttle of Canada won the men's title at the World Figure Skating Championships in Goteborg, Sweden.

Thought for Today: "Kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." - Joseph Joubert, French moralist (1754-1824).

Happy Birthday to everyone born on this day! I pray your lives are as blessed as mine!

Labels: birthday, quote

Mom and I went to the Perryville Outlets today. This has become a tradition for the two of us and we typically go twice a year. Once in the Fall and once in the Spring. This typically coincides with Braeden's birthday and then my birthday.

Each time we head to the outlets it's exciting for us because we know we'll be eating lunch at Chesapeake Food Works. They make THE BEST sandwiches, all kinds, I'm not lying. We seriously look forward to their sandwiches each time we plan a trip. This time I had one with pastrami, coleslaw, russian dressing and swiss cheese. DEELISH!

I also enjoy looking in Rue 21 and the Osk Kosk B' Gosh store. But my favoritest store of all is the Book Cellar. You can get excellent paperback books for $1! Since I love books, LOVE THEM, I always find it hard to remain disciplined while in this store, but today I think I did very well. In fact I ended up buying more for Braeden then for me and I think that is perfectly acceptable.

The only bad thing is that each time we go to the outlets there are less stores. They can't seem to stay open. This time we noticed the Mikasa and Claire's stores were gone. I hope they are able to remedy this and get more shops opened soon. I'd be bummed if the outlet center shut down.

Mom and I had a great time walking around and talking about life. I'm so happy we were able to go and that my feet didn't swell up too big by the time we headed home. Thank you to my Mom for making my birthday weekend more special.

When I got home Brian was busying cleaning the grill. This is great news! I can't wait to have more grilled dinners. Brian makes the best grilled chicken and of course Brae and I love turkey burgers.

He had also fixed the shelf in one of our kitchen cabinets and gone grocery shopping. this was a very productive morning for Bri and I'm thankful for all he did.

Now I'm eating dinner and relaxing. Tomorrow will be my 28th birthday. Braeden is coming home early from his father;s. Greg and Jada are coming down for dinner, as well as my parents and my in-laws. It will surely be a wonderful day!

Labels: birthday, brae, brian

Okay, so last Friday we went to have dinner at the in-laws for Brian's birthday. Aunt Gerri, Uncle Bill and Kevin were there as well. Terri made delicious baked ziti and there was also yummy salad. In my eyes it was essentially the perfect meal. The only thing which would have made it better would have have been a glass of red wine. And that will have to wait.

Brian was given a shop vac and a blu ray dvd player. And shockingly enough I was also given something. Terri and Todd bought me a FANTABULOUS digital SLR camera for my birthday which is coming up in March. The early gift was a huge surprise and I am already getting a lot of use out of it. I love it. I could not have asked for a better present.

It's a Nikon D60, 10.2-megapixel DX-format CCD imaging sensor and exclusive EXPEED image processing. Yes, the very same you see Ashton Kutcher with in all those camera commercials. It really is just incredible.

On Saturday Braeden was sick, he threw up and had a horrible headache. It was a rough day. Fortunately, it was only a 12-hour bug apparently because he seemed better on Sunday. In fact, he wanted to go to his swim lesson with Team Delaware and so we went.

Much to my dismay Team Delaware practices at the 1614 in Newark and the building is very run down. In fact, if I didn't already have Brae excited about the lesson I might have backed out upon seeing his dirty the area in the locker room and around the pool was. I really hope they work on it, I know Team Delaware is just renting the pool, but they should know the atmosphere is very underwhelming.

Braeden was afraid at first to get in the pool and do things without his life vest. However, the coaches were very good with him and he ended up having a great time. He bobbed in the water by letting his face go underwater, he blew bubbles, he practiced kicking and for a millisecond he even attempted floating on his back. They ended by jumping off the side and into the deeper water. Braeden tried it as long as the coach was within arms reach and I was super proud!

Sunday night it started snowing and we were warned of a major snowstorm. Monday morning when we woke up there was about 6 inches of snow. Work was closed and we were in for a fun snow day. By the end of the day we had a little over 8 inches I think, but the wind was fiercely blowing snow drifts in areas so I'm not sure if we got more or not.

Brian, Brae and I played outside for a bit, but it got bitter cold very quickly. There are a lot of fun photos which you can see at the link in the above paragraph. Braeden got both Brian and I good with his snowballs. Very fun.

And then Tuesday morning Braeden was throwing up again, coupled with diarrhea. He was so, so sick. So I left work and went to get him at daycare. And we've been home since then. Today is the first day he has been able to keep water in and he also had a half piece of toast and half a banana. This is definite progress. Although he still has not gotten off the sofa, he is laying down and very, very tired. This bug definitely got the best of him. Yet, bless his little sick heart, he's craving chocolate glazed donuts from Dunkin Donuts.

**update** He's throwing up again, this afternoon. Prayers needed my friends. 1:30 p.m.

And so here we are. Thursday. I'm getting some work done from home. I'm watching Two and a Half Men dvds as requested by Braeden. And I'm just hoping this weekend will bring intense rest.

Labels: birthday, brae, brian

Happy Birthday to Brian.

My husband turns 27 today and since he is 28 days older than me I feel I can stick out my tongue, dance around and call him an old man.

But when I turn 27 in 28 days I will purely be glowing in my youth. Haha.

Anywho, here is a link to "This Day In History"



YOUR BIRTHDAY: 24 February (PISCES)

Your personal ruling planets are Neptune and Venus.

Your destiny is such that you will struggle for balance, usually the balance between family and work. You have a highly strung nature and this is generally the result of possibly taking on more than you can handle at any given moment. As you are essentially an emotional person the requirement in your case is to carefully plan your work and not take on too much. Often you may find yourself a stranger within your own family through overwork. These vibrations indicate a "workaholic" tendency.

You have a fortunate vibration in that you can meet important people who will be of assistance to you, particularly influential women. The energy is successful for the future, particularly where the opposite sex is concerned.

Your lucky colours are white and cream.

Your lucky gems are diamond, white sapphire or quartz crystal.

Your lucky days of the week are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Your lucky numbers and years of important change are 6, 15, 24, 33, 42, 51, 60, 69, 78.

Famous people born on your birthday include Wilhelm Grimm, Winslow Homer, Billy Zane, Edward James Olmos and Manon Rheaume. [birthday profiler]

And here is your special birthday card!

Labels: birthday, brian