Birthdays: A Day in the Life Sunday

Happy Birthday fellow Leos!

This is the time of the year when the lions celebrate their birthdays. Birthday celebrations vary from the quiet and serene to the all-out bash. New to me is the idea of a birthday week where the birthday girl is treated to a week of celebration. I like!

I also like this fun facts about your birthday link from Lifehacker. My fortune cookie reads: You will be invited to an exciting event. Ok, let the invitations roll!

My birthday celebrations are focused on the one day and usually center on breakfast, relaxation, something sweet to eat (I am hoping for a DQ cake this year) and cards.

Did you know that the custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.

Today, there are over 2600 birthday cards available from Hallmark and with the new Go Card app, you can select, personalize and send a paper greeting cards from an iPhone anytime, from anywhere.

I am partial to paper cards. There's something about opening a hand addressed envelope, opening a card and seeing the birthday greeting chosen especially for me inside. I like thank you notes after interviews too.

Low key is OK on my birthday but this will not do for the kid and we go all out (read; overboard) in our plans. Our party themes have been princesses, snowflakes, polka dots, puppies, a mystery, the theater, Harry Potter, swimming sleep over and my all time favorite - a morning party with pajamas, pillows, breakfast and an ahhsome Finnish storyteller.

So while the kid is making me scones in our new mini scone pan and the husband is pouring the Bailey's in my coffee this Sunday birthday morning, do tell, how do you celebrate your birthday? What's the best tween theme you've seen?

Photo credit: iStockphoto

Being Sick Sucks

I have a bunch of HR topics I could write about today like employee engagement, job-search attitude, credibility, compliance coaching, and buying "likes" but I can't.

I haven't had a chance to consider my message or my delivery because I spent the last week fighting off a strep-mono-pneumonia-influenza-whooping cough-like germ. I was down for the count. I cancelled out of my wine tour 60 minutes before I was to leave the house for my rendezvous with the girls.

I should have seen it coming for weeks and now know my "run it off" approach wasn't the best one to take. There wasn't any need to discourage me from working during my sick time, because it just wasn't happening. The Blackberry held no appeal for me and I couldn't focus long enough to make a difference if it did.

I was bad enough off that the sympathies came out. The kid got her craft on and made me these gifts one of the first nights:

There's always learning in life and here's what I am taking away from the last week:

• Being sick s***ks
• I am a much better sick person now than I was in college
• Health stations in grocery stores on Sunday mornings are useless
• Everything seems so much better with a sympathetic ear from an LPN with a sweet voice and a lollipop colored uniform

The silver lining? If I could run a 60 minute 5 mi run with pneumonia on a hot Saturday morning, I should be able get that closer to 50 minutes when I am well! I'd like to be lacing up my shoes now but the body is just not up to it - yet. I'll take the rest of the week to catch up from being our last week and wellness at home as I give my body the time it needs to heal.

Stay well!