Birthday wishes for a teenager

I have never planned a surprise party and now I know why.....it is so hard to keep a surprise a secret! This year I posted the message below on Facebook and emailed the note to friends and family:

Hello all. If u r getting this u r someone I think of often and I am hoping you can help me with this surprise for Laurel:

Laurel becomes a teenager soon. I want to surprise her with a mailbox full of love and advice for the teen years. She is really into mail right now so I think this will be fun. And u know how life is as a teenager- hoping she will realize that she is special when she sees the whole box full of mail for her. Here is our address:

Luckily our mailbox is on the corner and is locked with a key so no problem if the cards come early, I can just stick them back in the box right before she checks it on her birthday.
Thanks for taking time to bring a smile to her.

ps- no money or gifts please, just words of wisdom and LOVE

Pps- I know some of you do not know laurel too well but I know you well enough to know you have some great wisdom and love to share. If all else fails, just go on Pinterest and find I quote. I know you can do it! Thanks.

And finally- if this is just not the right time to do something like this, just hit delete. No offense taken. Hope you all are well.

I had no idea how much fun this was going to be. Going back to my earlier post about proactive and reactive friends- I was thrilled to learn I have many many proactive friends. It really warmed my heart to see how many people gave Laurel ten minutes of their day (and for some, HOURS of their day) to share some birthday love with Laurel. Each day I go to the mailbox and find more cards. I am so excited for her birthday to get here so I can share this wonderful surprise with her.

An unintended but equally wonderful surprise for me is how it has reconnected me with some friends. Unlike the annual Christmas card, I have been answering people's emails and catching up a little. It has really been good to catch up with old friends. I also did not expect this gift to be so much fun for me. Honestly- how often is it you get something in the mail other than bills or junk? For me it has been a three week streak of at least one real piece of mail in the mailbox! I am so excited to see her reaction when she goes to the mailbox.

Update: Here is a photo of the birthday girl getting her mail:

Thank you to all who helped make her thirteenth birthday very memorable.

Here is a video of the birthday girl getting her mail.

The Worse My Vision Gets, The More Clearly I See Things

So I thought Laurel and Owen were getting braces this year and I maxed out donations to flexible spending.....only to realize their teeth were not ready yet and it would be another year. So thanks to the wacky way this health care program works if you do not use it you lose it. So even though I was not desperate I went to the eye doctor to get some glasses and I used the balance on a lifetime supply of first aid kits, ace bandages and sunscreen.....I think I know what will be stocking stuffers this year:)
Aside from learning too much about the annoyance of healthcare spending plans, I learned that while a doctor may say my vision is worsening, I am seeing life clearer and clearer. I just love being in my forties! Even though my eyes make things a little fuzzy, my thinking and mind is so much clearer. If someone asks me to do something that really doesn't sound fun, I say no thanks. That is it. And when I look in the mirror (thanks to my less than perfect vision) I do not see my imperfections as clearly as my thirteen year old daughter is able to notice details of beginning skin tabs or sun spots. In short I am able to worry less and live more and that only makes this whole decade that much better.