We’ll call this Thoughts on Thirty-Six…
A lot happened.
In 2013, April 10 is the 100th day of the year.

36 is double-life in Judaism. Double Chaim – 2 x 18
36 is the highest number on the roulette wheel – for all you gamblers out there!
My parents didn’t believe I would live to see six, much less thirty-six.
It is Bryce Harper’s + Denard Span’s jersey numbers combined. (34+2)
Leading up, the weekend before my 36th birthday ROCKED!
It was like I was living a dream – filled with basketball and more basketball – and complete with a road-trip with my cousin Spencer to and from the Final Four. (Complete with a fender bender and speeding ticket, that is.)
GMU Men’s Basketball made it to the CBI tournament quickly followed by Michigan in the final four – are you serious?!
YES, I AM!
I was in heaven! And in Atlanta we even got to stay in the team hotel, a.k.a. Michigan South! AWESOME!
On the off day between games I sent out my fundraising pitch for this year’s Adult Congenital Heart Walk which takes place this Saturday, and I had over $1000 raised in a matter of hours. People in my life are terrific to me. I am a lucky girl.
When the final buzzer went off in Atlanta, tho, you could feel the blood fall right out of my fingertips. Yes, the hands I had been using for clapping ALL season long and throughout a VERY long post-season had stopped. Fell. Dropped. Gone. It was like I had nothing left. Returning to the team hotel that night was far beyond a total total downer. (And I don’t even play on the team!) Alternatively, seeing the team off to board the bus just a few hours prior, yeah, that was cool!

Go Blue!
It was an amazing run and quite a ride for my baby brother, especially for his final year at Michigan as a Senior Manager. The Jackrabbits, the Rams, The Jayhawks (#1), the Gators (sorry, Christine) and the Orange – We won them all…. But the Wolverines couldn’t cage the Cardinals. Oh well, beating one #1 seed was amazing, we can’t beat half of ’em.
Kid President was still my favorite bracketologist by far. Check him out here. “Taste the fur, taste the claws!” Love it!
The morning of my birthday I slept in and woke up to a CinnaBon with a lit candle in it, complete with a cup of coffee, glass of orange juice and a cup of milk! The afternoon of my birthday I had a PB&J with a friend who has known me well over half my life. Love that she served up my favorite childhood memory. PB&J’s for lunch every day is what I had for the first 12 years of my life! After my gourmet birthday lunch I had to see a new friend in order to borrow his wife’s t-shirt for the evening’s festivities.
Chicks Dig Diamonds – complete with a curly W! Yep – I had to wear it to the Nats home game that night! On my birthday, when my birthstone is diamond – oh yeah! Thanks, Kate (& Brian) for making my wardrobe happen!
Big huge thanks to another dear friend, also one who has known me for more than half my life now, John, who graciously agreed, ages ago, to take me to the Nats game with his season tickets when they played at home on my birthday! Bryce Harper even hit a birthday homer for me! Whatta night!

LES & JNR at Nationals Park!
I returned home only to finish the day as I’d started it…. with candles stuck in sweets! A red velvet cupcake from Buzz with four twisty candles in it awaited me on the kitchen counter when I got home from the Nats VICTORY! 5-0 at home (back then)!

The Birthday Girl!
A very fun day! Thank you ALL!
And thank you for reading. I’m thinking about giving up (or cutting back on, at least) my social presence for my new year. Trying so hard not to do FB as often. Keep me honest & recommend a good book, would ya?