Books I Received For My Birthday

  1. The Glass Castle – by Jeanette Walls
  2. Fifty Shades of Gray – by E. James
  3. The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival – by Stanley Alpert
  4. To Be Sung Underwater – by Tom McNeal
    To Be Sung Underwater: A Novel [Book]

Monday Magic

Products I use because they work like magic or close enough to it to make me never want anything else

  1. Downy Wrinkle Release
  2. Fenofibrate (which I buy even though I don’t have insurance anymore because it’s actually working and I don’t want to stroke-out at the age of 45.)
  3. Garnier Length & Strength shampoo and conditioner
  4. Regis Clarifying shampoo (to remove chlorine)
  5. Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair lotion (to combat chlorine again)
  6. Tide Coldwater Free
  7. Static Guard
  8. Playtex Sport feminine products
  9. Sharpie markers

19 Reasons to Celebrate My Son’s 19th Birthday Today

  1. It’s his Golden Birthday!  Nineteen years on the nineteenth!
  2. He’s an amazing young man who has empathy, maturity, and wisdom beyond his years.
  3. He makes me laugh all the time.
  4. When I am sad, he hugs me until he takes away at least some of the sadness.
  5. Even at 19 years old, he still doesn’t mind hanging out with his mom.
  6. He talks to me.  Really talks.  About important things and unimportant things and dreams and goals and life decisions.  We communicate well.
  7. Hardly anything can embarrass him.  And I’ve tried.
  8. He brings his friends around.
  9. We like a lot of the same movies and TV shows and enjoy watching them together.
  10. He thinks I’m young enough to understand the music he listens to.
  11. He has indeed introduced me to a lot of new music.
  12. His smile is quick and sincere.
  13. Even when he was young, he’s always been able to talk to anyone.  People don’t scare him the way they do me.
  14. He kills bugs for me.
  15. Almost all of my favorite memories involve him.
  16. Before he was born, when I was in a car wreck, there were some scary minutes when we couldn’t hear his heartbeat.  I don’t think I’ve ever prayed harder than that hour.
  17. He supports my goals and dreams, even if they take us away from each other geographically.
  18. He loves with his whole heart.
  19. I am so proud of the man he has become.

    Caleb at the top of Haleakala Volcano, Maui - June 2010

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