Today's my birthday...how should I proceed?

Well, I've been monitoring my food intake the past two weeks to lose the remaining baby weight and I've been doing really well. So, I go to Costco to pick up something for dinner, get Paige her usual hot dog and Sprite combo and an extra drink for myself. About two years ago, I gave up drinks with aspartame in it to get rid of some killer headaches, but with this new 'diet' plain sodies are out, leaving diet drinks as my only real caffeine carbonation fix. The problem with this is I don't remember how in the world I *ever* made myself drink that stuff in the first place. The only diet drink they have is Coke. The aftertaste is hideous - I mean super nasty. So, I'm thinking about a phone call I would make to Nutrisystem - what would I say? Then the phrase 'Today's my birthday...how should I proceed' comes to mind. Mix half diet coke with regular coke I tell myself.

OK.

That was *SOOO* much worse than just plain diet coke. It tasted like medicine...or like the syrupy coke-like stuff they make you drink for the gestational diabetes test.

Aside from all that, I'm proud of myself of being able to stick with the plan, not starve, and still be able to make dinner for the family.

***

So, turning 32 isn't quite the obstacle I thought it might be. Why? Here's what I *could* have written. My name is Martina and I'm an ageist. Crowd responds - "hello Martina!" I have always had a hard time coming to grips with each birthday. I have no idea, but it started when I turned 18 and most birthdays following have had similar reactions. Why? I dunno - maybe it's the poignant realization that life is short, life goes on, or that you can't go back in time.
But one thing's for sure. You've got to enjoy every minute you have and
soak it all up because it's all you get.

Each year for my birthday, I treat myself to some nice pretty flowers (truth be told, the yard needs it about this time each year, so two birds with one stone, right?) and spent some time in the yard planting my flowers and filling the water fixture so I can hear that lovely cascading sound when I leave the house. I absolutely *LOVE* springtime. It's just proof that the world regenerates with such beauty. So, I took a few photos of the flowers I planted yesterday. I'm not entirely done planting everything. Ashley and I have a project for our old rickety rustic shed and then she wanted to plant some tomatoes and carrots...we'll see how those come along. So, I give you my flowers. I apologize they're not great photos, but I was losing light fast and had to wait for the camera battery to charge.