See, here's the thing:

If I write about my sore muscles and my fatigue and my frustrating Shiatsu class that I'm completely not getting and the first test in 20 years that I've failed and the upcoming practical and my nervous breakdown in class last Saturday morning and my job where the entire department is rendered powerless and my job has heavier responsibilitites than ever but I'm not making any more money and my friend who works here is leaving in two weeks for a job in Manhattan and I'm so jealous my stomach cramps thinking about it and my graduation from school is one day before the day I need to have all my paperwork into the State of New York so I can sit for the licensing exam and I have to do nine clinic shifts in two months and I'm going to have to do double-shifts to fit them all in by graduation and I am shaking like an epileptic every time I have to give a massage and I just want to get married and stop the temping but my student loan payments are kicking in and I still have to get a car next year and have a baby before I'm 40 and...

Well, that would be a distraction from my awesome new birthday iPod and new birthday cell phone with the camera in it and the drink-up G is throwing for me at a Karaoke bar in Elmsford this Friday night and my new iTunes account and my snazzy new cameraphone and how extra-snuggly my cat has been lately and the amazingly delicious Chocolate Chunk Crunch Coffee Coolers I get almost every evening from the Java Cafe down the street from school and my funny classmates that I get to work with and my near-perfect scores in Neurology and Advanced Anatomy & Physiology and my Certification cards coming in the mail for CPR and First Aid and my upcoming appointment with my long-lost Sylist Peter for a day of glam on my birthday and the 10 or so people who have already responded to the Evite G sent for my party and I can't wait to sing Karaoke with them and the simple joy of having G to snuggle up to at night and the exhilaration of driving over the Tappan Zee Bridge in the convertible with the top down and the beaded jeans I'm going to wear to my party and the wedding dresses I'm hoping to try on next spring.

And really, that second paragraph is just so much better than the first.

There is a LOT more going on in my life besides my birthday, but right now, I prefer not to focus on it. It will all still be there in a few weeks.

So I'll be back in a little while.

Smooches.