Birthday Fail.

"What is that smell?"

Never something you want to say at 4am when the power is off due to a 100 year storm and you've just let your dog back into the house after discovering her fighting with a critter outside. And not just any critter. I think the skunk has spent the better part of the last millennia perfecting the spray it unleashes on its victims. So Bailey, having pissed this thing off sufficiently, corralled it by the deck. Where it sat. For the day. I honestly believe she thought she was giving me a birthday present.

"You know what's awesome when the power is off and a skunk has decided to camp out under your house? 110 freaking degrees".

So I left. I had plans to run with some friends in the morning which turned into a local tour of the devastation that the storm had brought. Two lives lost, countless homes and trees damaged, thousands without power. We wouldn't get ours back for six days. We are lucky to have a generator at least and cold showers are actually kind of refreshing when it's a hundred humid degrees outside.

When I got home, Dave was filling the kiddie pool (haha, I just wrote poop instead of pool...seems fitting these days) because he's a genius. So much splashing.

Our afternoon plans got cancelled but we made the most of it by crashing Jenny and Shawn's house for a cookout and AC.

There are two things I usually try and do on my birthday no matter what else is going on.  1) Have my favorite beer.  2) Notice the sunset.  We found it on the way home.

Then, after the kiddos FINALLY went to sleep, Dave surprised me with the cake he was planning on serving at our canceled party...

Haha, it was an ice cream cake.  And had melted without power.  It was the most fitting ending to the day and I really loved that moment.  Eating melted birthday cake in the dark and heat, Dave was so upset but I couldn't stop laughing.  Here's to 31, from how it began, it looks to be a pretty crazy year!