March 16th marks the BIG 44 for me. WooHoo!!!!!

This past year has been a blessing in disguise to say the least, as I’ve seen life happen at a jackrabbit’s pace, and still managed to come out of it with a smile on my face, a New Edition song in my heart and too many good days outweighing any not-so-good-right-now days.

With that said, birthdays are often major for me. I’m talking MAJOR! After all, a girl only turns whatever age she is turning once. So each year I’ve been fortunate enough to have multiple parties, too many cakes, lots of memories, great food and gifts galore. This year, however, is different, and surprisingly it’s my preference and I’m good. So I’ll pause for a moment to relish in the birthday blessings of years past. #grateful

I’ve decided to celebrate my March birthday in April. Yep, you read correctly. I’m putting my party on pause. There’s been so much going on that to take time to party seems to be a misuse of my time, plus I simply don’t have much time to offer up. Those 24 hours get zapped up like a mosquito in one of those outside bug zappers. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely plan on thanking God appropriately for another year, eating something blog-worth in honor of my special day, and accepting gifts as offered, but the biggest gift is seeing my daddy home from the hospital and on the road to healing, frantically gathering family and friends to pack my house to sell after being on the market for six WHOLE years, even more frantically searching the city (as in Alabaster, Hoover, Pelham and Helena) for a rental house within a certain small budget with a garage and at least two bedrooms in enough time to make my April sell date and starting a new part-time job so I can afford said new rental home. I got tired just typing all of that!

So as you can see, while my heart overflows with gratitude at the thought of 44 and all the AMAZING things it has in store, my plate overflows with things more pressing right now. I’m uber proud of the woman I’ve become. 34-year-old Angela would possibly have pouted on th einside at the thought of putting off partying. 24-year-old Angela would have gone into full-fledged “why me” mode. But not this sophisticated lady. I’m growing, and that is the best birthday present I can give to myself. So… Happy Birthday to me and see you in April with belated-birthday bells on and pictures as PROOF!!!!!

@AngelaMMoore316