Bea - 70 hours a week?? sheesh! You definitely deserve this Birthday Trip! Can't wait to see you!

As far as the countdown ticker. I recommend using Daisypath because it's pretty easy to use.
http://daisypath.com/
Just choose BB code after you finish putting in your dates and designing your ticker. It's in the forum signature section.
Make sure you delete the code around it, just leaving the [img] in the front and back