Yesterday was my birthday — a half-milestone one, at that — and yet I didn’t feel nearly as bummed about it as I did last year. In fact, it was an all-around great day.

I came home from work to find this:

… all my favorite things, collected for me there on the coffee table! Nathan set up a note and napkin, explaining that beneath the napkin lay a glass of iced tea and a “snack,” and he had the TV set to “Despicable Me” (a movie he and I saw together in the theater) to enjoy whenever I wanted. I loved that. And Rene had a lemon cake baking in the oven, and Chris and Ricky were there, with roses and my Arizona iced tea and Brighton jewelry! We all went to dinner and had a really fun, fabulous night. It was awesome.

Last year, I was pretty bummed about my birthday. I think I was in too much of a whirlwind of change, and feeling pretty out of control about every aspect of my life, from where my son was going to be living to how healthy I was going to feel the next day. But this year — while certainly not in any semblence of perfect control — at least feels like something I can picture and work on.

It’s going to be a good year. …