Happy birthday to me!

I had a beautiful birthday yesterday. Turning forty-seven, I feel happy to be a year older and (hopefully) wiser. It's been such a good year, filled with my family and friends, tons of reading and talking and laughing and listening, and the peace of Christ in my heart. Thanks be to God!

Celebrating has gone on in phases, not just blowing out candles on the cake. My summer camera purchase was my birthday & Christmas present. I LOVE presents, but I felt no regret in having used up my gift quotient in the summer; I am very happy with my camera.

Over the weekend, we did travel to Palo Alto for dinner and visiting with my cousin. An aside: if she is my mother's cousin, is she my cousin-once-removed, or is she my second cousin? Whatever the proper name, it doesn't conjure up the right depth of closeness. She is a dear part of our family! With just my husband and me as her guests, we got to talk, talk, talk and we all agreed we should do it more often.

I also got my door painted RED. I've had the paint for at least a year, but I was daunted by the fact that it looked magenta when I opened the can. Dried on the door, though, it changed into my favorite shade of red. The bold and cheery color makes me happy each time I walk in the house.

Wednesday night the celebration began to pick up again with a dinner out with girlfriends. Thursday morning I was greeted with a banner of kind words and pictures, delicious cinnamon rolls and a latte. Thursday is a busy day of piano, errands and an online class, but we had a school-lite afternoon that allowed me to nap and read. What a luxury. Chinese take-out and red roses were a beautiful addition to the household when my husband got home, and a cake with carmel frosting was the perfect finishing touch. Kind phone calls, emails, cards, presents from friends and children...I went to bed feeling very, very loved. One other note: at some point recently we have started a little dinner game on birthdays. "Tell what you like about the birthday person" is a terrific way to spend a meal, and if everyone else ends up feeling as loved as I did, perhaps we should do it more often than seven times a year!

So, happy birthday to me!