Let's not beat around the bush here. Today, I am 34 years old.

I know that a lot of you already know it's my birthday because I've been so blessed to basically be inundated by well-wishes since I woke up this morning.

The Earliest Well-wisher Award goes to my dad, who texted me at 5:18 am, followed quickly by my Mamaw at 5:42 am. By the time I got Mamaw's, I was already back from a quick morning run. It seems I come from a long line of early risers. :)

Anyway, surrounded by John, our kids, and my Mom, I opened gifts last night after dinner. John goes overboard. He's always been WAY too good to me on holidays, but what struck me last night was something more.

He'd asked the kids to think about things I like to do, and they'd done their birthday shopping with that list in mind. Each gift was packaged with a corresponding tag. My many gifts were labeled thus:

For Mom, who writes

For Mom, who runs (fast)

For Mom, who takes care

For Mom, who makes

For Mom, who reads

(I actually got to open the one with the first label early and have been blogging away happily on it for the past week or so. :)

I can't say with total certainty because it's been awhile since I've seen this great movie, but I think it's The Story of Us that claims that there's no greater feeling than the feeling of being "gotten." My gifts, from my kids, my husband, my parents really made me feel "gotten." To be gotten is to be loved. To be gotten is not to feel alone. It is to be understood.

Today, I feel so blessed to have a circle of people who love and get me. What more could a birthday girl ask for?

Thank you for the birthday wishes. Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing this blog with me. :)