Birthday No. 30

The day began nicely. I rolled out of bed and went for a run with my running partner, who wished me a happy birthday and gave me a hug as soon as she saw me.

Then I got home to the normal chaos: Bruce getting ready for school, Phoebe running around half-naked and yelling that she's hungry, and Scott frantically searching for his keys. I guess he found his keys because a few minutes later, I realized he was gone. I thought maybe he was getting a fancy surprise out of the car or something, but after a few more minutes he still hadn't appeared. I called him. He said he was worried about catching his shuttle and forgot to say goodbye - and happy birthday. He later blamed this oversight on cold medicine that he had taken.

Bruce was excited about my birthday and had a breakfast-in-bed menu planned, but I wasn't in bed and Scott left so couldn't help with the breakfast prep. So I made my own breakfast - egg whites and toast - and ate it at the table.

I walked Bruce to school, walked home with Phoebe, and waited for Miss J (can't call her Baby J anymore because she is almost walking) to come over. She came and we played, then I put the girls down for a nap. I had two normal hours before things started to get wild.

Scott came home after his interview and wasn't feeling well. He went straight to bed, and I was totally jealous. Then I fed the girls lunch and we walked to school to pick Bruce up. Bruce planned a playdate with a friend, so I inherited one more kid for the afternoon. As we walked home, the friend started doing the potty dance. By the time we got into our building, he was spinning in circles. The cramped quarters of the elevator were too much for him and he totally lost it. He left a big puddle, which he then tracked down the hall to our condo.

I threw some snacks to the girls in the stroller, sent the friend to the bathroom, and enlisted Bruce to get him fresh clothes. I spent the next few minutes sopping up urine on the elevator, and scrubbing the elevator, hall, and our floor. Not too long after that, a neighbor boy knocked on the door to play with Bruce. We're up to five kids now.

A few minutes later, I got a phone call from a resident in our building. The garage door broke, and I'm the go-to person/condo association prez who takes care of such things. I was about to go check the door myself when Miss J put a present in her diaper. I changed her, checked the door, and made the call.

Eventually, Bruce's friends went home and Miss J's parents picked her up. Scott wasn't up for cooking, so we had pizza for dinner and ginger-chocolate cake for dessert (I made it the day before). I opened my presents - a nice shirt and a stepping stool for the kitchen (and a pot rack that Scott put up the weekend before) - and went to visit a friend who had broken her ribs. I came home exhausted and collapsed into bed.

Thankfully, the next day was better. After hearing about my birthday adventure, my running partner sent flowers and took me running shoe shopping. We went hiking as a family. Phoebe made peace with the potty and has been inventing her own potty dance. I went to my track club's holiday party and stayed 3x as long as I thought I would.

Another decade down. I was hoping to run 30 miles or do something crazy with the number 30, but I think I just had 30 disasters. Better luck next year.