You know what the best thing in the whole world is?

It's when your five year-old goddaughter runs across a room, jumps into your arms, and says, "Auntie Lexis! I misted you!"

Big Daddy Diesel is making me do this

OK, so BDD picked me, and now I have to write seven random things about myself and then pick other bloggers to do the same. Thanks my my chronic diarrhea of the mouth, there's not much new/different stuff to tell... but I'll give it a shot.

1. I didn't realize my hair was naturally wavy until I was in my early 30s. Until that time, I just thought it was frizzy and uncooperative. As a result, I tried to blow it into submission every day, only to get frustrated. Finally, I realized I could wear it wavy/curly and not fuss with hot styling every day.

2. A famous dancer and actor (I won't say names, but it rhymes with Rikale Marishnikov) once checked out my butt. No lie.

3. I would adopt 20 pets if D would let me I could. I would totally be a crazy pet lady.

4. My biggest regret is that I never lived in NYC.

5. My biggest fear is fire.

6. I have freakishly long toes. They look like ET. Sad but true.

7. If I weren't scared of losing my teeth, I would play on a women's ice hockey team.

OK, now I pick other people to do this. (You guys have to!) Plus, everyone should check out their blogs.

Jess at Pushing My Limits
Jill at Sneakersister
Maria at All That Matters Is What Makes You Happy
Randy at 400 Beers
Jamie at Project IM Arizona
Joe at Beyond the Two-Zero
Mandy at Dr. Err's House
Julie at Julie's Triathlon Journal
Sage at Random Misadventures
Heather at Saucon Runner

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't link to BDD, who started this whole thing. Blame him, not me. :)

Leave me a note with any comments/reactions to my randomness and also to let me know when you've posted your own random tidbits.

Recipe for a great day

Ingredients:
1 pool
1 yoga class
1 unexpected, last-minute breakfast with an adoring husband, a great friend, and his 4 kids that you don't see nearly enough
a dash of pampering
1 fundraising party

Swim 2,000 yards and immediately go to yoga. Feel arms shake but know you're doing wonderful things for your body.

Meet friends and hubby for breakfast. Eat decadent, bad-for-you-but-oh-so-yummy things like french toast and huge sticky bun (with a candle in it). Enjoy the slightly off-tune rendition of Happy Birthday as sung by two grown men and 4 children.

Indulge in a manicure and pedicure.

Take a 90-minute nap without ruining said manicure and pedicure.

Check Facebook and see more than 150 good wishes from friends and family.

Get dressed and go to fundraiser, where many, many friends are in attendance. Laugh a lot. Say "thank you" a lot as all of them wish you a happy day. Laugh some more. Ride a tricycle (there were tricycle races at the event... hilarious!).

Talk to a good friend that you've never met (yet!!!) and wish her good luck in her first Half Ironman the next day. Send lots of good vibes to her.

Laugh some more with friends and go home feeling happy and loved.

Yup. It was a good birthday.

At exactly 2:22 p.m. tomorrow

I will be 45 years old.

Here's what I expect my birthday party to look like.

Seriously. 45?? Already? How did this happen??

Money sucks

More accurately, lack of money sucks.

After years of working at it, I finally paid off my high interest credit card and chopped it into little pieces (take THAT, stupid bank!). That's the good news.

The bad news is that I am now using my debit card for everything, which means I'm totally cash poor.

Ugh. It has to get better at some point, right? I mean, I'll be 45 on Saturday (don't even get me started on that one!), and I feel as stressed about money as I did at 25 when I was making less than half of what I make now. WTF? And I know I'm not alone. I know several people who also are cutting way back, counting every penny, and generally losing sleep at night because they are unemployed, underemployed, in debt up to their eyeballs, unable to afford their lives, or some combination of factors.

Would you go back?

Yesterday I went to a 9th grade assembly at one of our schools (I work for the public school system). The speaker was an alumnus who is now a molecular biologist. A self-proclaimed nerd, he goes around to schools to speak to students, in a funny and self-deprecating way, about how hard it is to be an adolescent.

Listening to his stories made me flash back to my own gangly, awkward teen years. The themes of his stories -- loneliness, quest for acceptance, unrequited crushes -- were all too familiar to me.

When I got back to work, I told my boss' secretary about the presentation and said in an offhanded way, "I wouldn't go back to high school for a million dollars." It was a silly little comment at the time, a throw-away, but this morning as I walked the dogs I started to think about it again.

Would I really turn down $1 million if it meant I had to be 14 and go through the pain of high school again?

I think my answer is still yes.

What about you? A million dollars on the spot, but you have to turn back into a 14 year-old and relive the horror that is high school.