Crappy Birthday To Me

I officially turned 22 years old this past Friday, September 24th and I can't say that I'd want to do it again anytime soon.

That tickle in my throat on Wednesday night turned into a serious cold and sore throat by Thursday, oddly coupled with a side of nausea. When I woke up on my big day Friday, my cold felt much better but not so much my stomach. I should've known that Friday just wasn't my day when I spilled the entire contents of one of my desk drawers on my floor, spewing hundreds of thumb tacks and multi-colored paper clips around my room. I later spilled a bottle of Propel in my bag on my way to work and soaked my planner, my bag, and my shirt. Later, as I was enjoying the weather and campus landscaping by eating my lunch outside, the sprinkler system came on Happy-Gilmore-style and got me wet. After a rocky start, I was planning on a birthday dinner at Champion House with my parents to lift my spirits. However, after a queasy car ride, I ended up throwing up 6 times at dinner, rushing my poor parents out of the restaurant, and nixing all of my evening celebratory plans in order to go to bed at 10 pm. In general, my birthday stunk this year. Luckily, I had many well-wishers and friends who wanted to celebrate with me, but putting anything in my stomach, let alone alcohol, did not sound very appealing. *sigh*

I woke up yesterday feeling 110% better. I'm not sure if I had the 24 hour flu or food poisoning or what, but I knew I was feeling better because I scarfed down a piece of the chocolate birthday cake (with pink frosting!) that Julia and AJ baked for me at 8:15 in the morning. Additioinally, one of Josh's little birthday surprises was to take me to Uncle John's Apple Orchard/Cider Mill for the day. I love doing fall-ish activities and he bought me all the donuts and cider I could ever want :) We walked through the corn maze, watched apple cider being made, and had an all around great time. Last night, Carrie and Libby made a very heartfelt effort to re-enact my birthday celebration and I headed out with them to The Brown Jug for a drink. I called it an early night but appreciated their enthusiasm. Even though I *again* missed that narrow window of opportunity to get together with a large group of my friends, I'm hoping it's not a long time before those plans materialize again. Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday and wanted to celebrate with me. Hopefully 23 will be a little more welcoming.

xoxox