April Fools Day: Birthday Traditions Edition

I hope that you all had a Happy and Blessed Easter Sunday! It was a good time with my parents and father-in-law. I'm so grateful for a husband that has a knack for helping out, so that I was not stressed out trying to do everything to get prepared to have our family over.

So today is the first day of April! You know what that means? It means I have a WHOLE month to celebrate my birthday! It started off with a day, then it went to a week, now it's a month! I just need to figure out how that's going to be done.

When celebrating went to a week, I would take a week off from work and go somewhere or just try to do something everday with or without my friends. It didn't have to be anything huge but it was and still is a fun way to celebrate.

It all started when I turned 25. My dad and I thought it would be fun to take a trip to Texas to visit family. We also thought it would be cool to take a road trip while we were there. I had only been driving for two years. Yes, I was a late bloomer. I had no desire to get my license because I always had older friends to hang out with. Anyways, when my dad and I landed in Texas, we went to the rental car place to get a car. I was just ONE whole week away from my birthday and my dad wanted to put me on the contract as an extra driver. The guy took one look at my driver's license and he said she's 24. My dad said, "Come on man, she'll be 25 next Saturday! Can't you make an exception?" Going back and forth, the man finally caved in and put me on the contract. My dad was happy but I was ecstactic!

As I drove, my dad tried his darndest to keep his eyes open just in case something happened. But thankfully, he went to sleep and let me drive. It was a fun time visiting with uncles, aunties, cousins, and granny!

After that trip and with the encouragement from an old boyfriend (even thought he didn't know he encouraged me in that way), I wanted the tradition to continue.

I have yet to go anywhere exotic for my birthday. One year a friend of mine who shares the same birthday wanted to go to Africa on her 30th. I thought that would be a fun and unfortunately that did not happen. I either didn't have money, she was in the thick of finishing her Master's degree or she became pregnant. Maybe we can try for my 40th (smile).

I've read of people doing 30 things of service for their 30th birthday. Doing something for someone else. That's a cool idea but I also struggled with that to some point. I really wanted to do something fun for my birthday week at least.

As it turns out, months ago, my church had been talking about going to Ensenada again this year to build a home for a family who is poorer than poor. I heard what a great experience it was and what a good time they had. I hadn't been able to go these past two years because one year I was getting ready for our wedding and the second year, I don't think I really had or made the time. I went to Catalina Island with my husband instead. This year, I REALLY wanted to go. So I asked my husband about it and he said, sure. So we put our names in. I didn't even look at the dates.

Well, as God is holy as well as having a great sense of humor, we are leaving for Ensenada on the day of my birthday for five days of housebuilding! That should be a fun experience as well as an adventurous one! Happy Birthday to me!

Do you  have any birthday traditions?

Love,

Mrs. M

P.S. I'm not really good at April Fools Day jokes as far as playing them on others. What about you?

HSG and other fun things, Part 1

Thursday, my husband's birthday, was the scheduled day to get my HSG (hysterosalpingogram) done. When I first read about this procedure, I thought I was going to get sick because I was scared and so I waited to make an appointment. My insurance gave me like 3 months or so to go get it done. So I waited about that long and then I decided to go see the OB/GYN, talk to her and then have my appointment made.

Did I say I was scared? I was also nervous. After going through several YouTube videos about some women's experiences with this procedure, I found one that I liked a lot. Her story is that she had PCOS  and had been trying for a coupld of years with her husband to conceive. She had to give herself a shot or more of this or that. In the end, they ended up having a baby. And though her voice can somewhat be annoying, she has a heart and she wanted to share her journey with those that might be going through the same thing. We have come so far in this technology age and I'm glad she shared.  After hearing her story about how she gripped a pillow through part of the procedure and how she started crying, I started to mentally prepare myself for a similar experience.

Now, I was suppose to have this procedure done on Tuesday BUT I did mention to them that I was spotting just a little bit, not a lot to mention on a pad but I was still showing. They told me advised me to set up another appointment in the next couple of days so that we can be sure that AF is gone. And since the window to have this procedure done is so short, we had to reschedule it for it to happen in the next couple of days. So after working myself up, my husband and I made most of the rest of our day by going to Sea World.

The morning of October 18th, I woke up early and I sang Happy Birthday to my husband (though it's not his birthday tradition, it's mine...I'm glad he is patient with me). I went back to sleep but when I woke up there was a song in my head. I really believe that it was God using this song to encourage me, here are some of the lyrics:

Songwriters: Jason Ingram, Kristian Stanfill

My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way
Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, alwaysTroubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

I took 1 1/3 of 600mg Ibuprofen, just in case. They don't give you any painkillers for this. So finally we made our way back to the hospital, this time way early in the morning. We had to be there by 7:30am. Well it wasn't too long after I checked in that the radiologist came and got me. Are you kidding me, I thought, it's not even 8 am! Oh well....I had asked some of my friends and family to pray for me that morning.

I walked with her back to the room where the procedure would take place all the while trying to keep that song in my head. I was grateful that it didn't smell like the plastic dye I smelled a couple of days before. She had me change, everything off from the waist down and had me put on a gown, with backside exposed. Of course I didn't keep it exposed. When she came back into the room, we chatted until the doctor came in to do the procedure. At this point, I'm was wondering where the peace of God was in all this. I was waiting for that feeling...as I sat on the table, I'm like God where are You, I knew in my head that He was there but my heart was going through changes. Remember the song...

God's peace did come through, He did help me!

I know this is not as exciting as a birth story but it is my story, it is part of my journey and if it can help someone or encourage them, I'm glad.

God is so good!

Until tomorrow...

Love,

Mrs. M