Some Reflections and Observations on the Fifth Anniversary of My Eleventh Birthday

(Or the 11th Anniversary of my 5th birthday, whichever way you'd rather multiply it.  The age remains the same.)

I have so many dear, kind, and wonderful friends.  I am TRULY blessed.  I have teared up several times today because of the kind words and deeds of my friends.  I feel so very fortunate, and so very spoiled. And so very loved beyond all reason.

Even when I try not to obsess about my birthday, I end up wallowing in it.  Oh, I'm not worried so much about how old I'm getting, (but OMG!!) rather how much I end up thinking and talking about it.  Perhaps this is because I was the baby by so many years.  My birthday was always a big deal.  (And then the oldest one starting doing the math, somewhere around 1985, and started saying "If you're x, that means I'm...Oh, dear God, let's not EVEN talk about THAT!"  He's 16 years older.  You do the math. ;-) )

Sometimes, making your own birthday cake, and taking it somewhere to share, is more fun than letting someone else make it.

The Cake.  Complete, and ready to go be shared with starving choristers.

I like to bake anyway, and this recipe sounded like fun.  It was, and I learned that you can't wait too long to use a ganache type frosting, or it will get crumbly. 

It tastes marvelous, though.








So, this morning, I finished preparing the cake and made the frosting.  I took a lovely walk while the frosting cooled.

The neighborhood kiddos are off to school.  The kids around a few years ago really loved Mr. Bear when we were out walking in the mornings.  I miss that dog.

It was a beautiful morning, and I am so grateful for the lovely weather.  What a nice birthday gift, based on the weather Monday, and what has been predicted for from Friday on.  So nice to have had this glorious, beautiful day.

I came home, and decided to have a special breakfast before I tackled cake assembly.

I reheated some sourdough pancakes, scrambled myself an egg, and tried out the espresso cheese I bought last night.  I also had my orange juice in my Perlman mug.  (That is, a mug with a lot of pictures of Perlman's mug on it.  A gift for my birthday from my pal Kelly.) I love it.

While I was eating, I checked my Twitter feed.  I found a link to this Instagram post:

This, along with MANY posts from my friends and family, really made my day!  So much love.  (Kelly, the one who sent the mug, is on the left in this picture, which was made when we all met in Dallas in 2013.)

After breakfast, I frosted and assembled the cake.  After resting up from that, I did a few dishes, and got myself cleaned up.

This is the outfit I wore, my dark wash Levis, (size 6!) and my new sweater from Target. (With a turquoise tank top underneath.)

Thus arrayed, I gathered up the recycling, and set out to do that one chore, and then shop!

My especially sweet and loving husband had told me to buy something I wanted/needed and consider that my gift from him.  So, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got some new walking shoes.  (Okay, I also got two pair of really nice leggings for working out and walking.  One flare leg, and one fitted.)

After that stop, I walked next door to Target, and found a few odds and ends, like a yoga mat, some hand cream, and a new suitcase to replace the roll-along carry-on that Matt had.  (It died finally, after a long and thoroughly useful life.)

This is the hand cream I bought.  I thought it was very appropriate, me being a "coconut", and all ;-)  It smells wonderful.  Delicious, even.




After I made my Target purchases, I headed over to Kohl's, one of the best places to score bargains on clothes and household linens.  I didn't really NEED any new clothes, but I thought it couldn't hurt to look.  I found several things, including two new shirts for Matt.  Everything I bought was on clearance, and I had an "extra 15%off" coupon they had sent me in the mail.  I spent $112, but I got more than $200 worth of items.  Kohl's always has good deals.

This was my full cargo area when I got home with it.  After I got it all in the house, I set out the items from Kohl's on the bed to go through them.   Then I tried on the dress that I only paid $10.00 for.  I had tried it on in the store, but without the shapewear I found to go with it.  Below is how the dress looks on me.  It's a bit snug on the top.  Will probably wear one of my fancy shawls with it when I wear it out in public.  I love the color, though, and you can't beat the price!

After I got all the stuff I bought put away or sorted out to wash, I put workout clothes on and headed out for another walk.  No pictures this time, because the phone battery was in dire need of charging.

Right after I got changed, the doorbell rang.  There was a nice lady from the florist there with a lovely arrangement of flowers.  My dear friend Fi and her husband Geoff and her son Hayden sent me a beautiful bouquet of aromatic flowers for my birthday.  I am so touched by the kindness of all my friends, but this almost made me cry.  So very sweet, and so very beautiful.  Almost as beautiful as Fi's heart.  I love that girl.  We've never met in person, but we have a real connection as people, in spite of distance.  I owe her about a dozen hugs when we DO meet in person.

When I got home from my walk, my wonderful, loving, and long-suffering husband was home waiting for me.  His hugs and kisses are always the best thing.  Especially nice on my birthday, since we've missed a few of those over the years due to deployments, training, and regular airlift missions. All these years since he retired have been making up for the time we missed.  He's aged, of course, and so have I, but this is how I still see him, my Knight In Smelly Flightsuit.

He highly approves of the new dress, and the exercise leggings I bought.  (Anything form-fitting, and he's happy.  Some things NEVER change! ;-) )


We had a nice, light supper of Caesar Salad and grilled chicken breast, because we knew the cake after choir rehearsal was going to be RICH.  It was.  Oh, so very delicious.  Proud of my efforts in that regard. 
The choir sang Happy Birthday to me, which is a tradition in our bunch.  (This is the 19th birthday I've celebrated since joining this choir.  Hard to believe it has been so long.  That's a lot of Sunday services sung, a lot of Christmases and Lents and Holy Weeks and Easters.  I spend more time with these gifted musicians than I do with my family on holidays. )  I really love St. Paul's and I am especially fond of my fellow choristers.  The blend we can achieve, it is transporting, moving, absolutely magical sometimes.  I am SO very fortunate to be able to sing with this group.

The choir (and our fearless leader, Canon Musician H. Scott Raab) dug in to the cake, and managed to eat most of it, by taking slices home to spouses and other family members.  I'm all for that, I have to still be able to wear that $10 dress I bought!!

Here's what we have left of the cake:

I am grateful to my fellow choristers (and Scott!)  for their willingness to save me from my own birthday cake! 

So, now I'm home, and typing up this blog post so I can remember all the wonderful parts of one of the best birthdays I've ever had!  Sitting here listening to Pink Martini, and drinking a dry Martini.  Life is SO good.

This has been a busy day.  I have a few ideas about how to use tomorrow in my quest to share and spread the joy I have been gifted with.  I won't be detailing those little activities.  I think random kindnesses are best done in secret.  (Do not blow trumpets when you give your offering, as some do, for truly, they have received their reward.  Do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing, and your Father who sees in secret, will see your gift, and your reward will be stored up for you in Heaven.  -A very rough paraphrase, but that's the idea, anyway.)  

The reason I write blog posts like this is so that I can look back in the future and remember all the wonderful things that happened on this special day.  It has indeed been a special day, made so by the love of my friends.  Many thoughtful friends who took the time to send their love and best wishes my way.  From a busy actor (and I mean he's SERIOUSLY busy right now) who took time to send me a birthday greeting, to all the friends and family near and far who sent messages, cards, gifts, and most importantly their love.  That love is what keeps me from having any serious self pity and depression any more.  When I was younger, I was very fond of self-pity.  For no good reason, I've had a very blessed life, but it was easy to fool myself on this score.  No longer.  Friends on social media, around the world make it impossible for me to feel so alone anymore.  People ask after me when I am not online.  All of us #Perlgirls check on each other, and we try to keep track of our favorite actor, too.  We care about the guy.  He makes us laugh.  He's good people.  Really.  He stands by his values, and he remembers his friends.  He appreciates his long time fans. 

 I also happen to work for one of the best public institutions going.  Our library system is always looking for new ways to bring our customers what they need and want to improve the quality of their lives.  Things to read, watch, listen to, programs to teach them things, or give them the opportunity to explore issues, a place to meet, a place where it's safe to just sit and hang out, a place where you can ask just about any question, and not only will your privacy be respected, but no one will look down their nose at you for asking.  The people I work with are all smart, funny, quirky, friendly, and caring.  They are also absolutely dedicated to your freedom to read.  Library work is a lot like teaching in that you don't go into it expecting to make a bunch of money.  This isn't a job, it's a holy calling.  Education, intellectual freedom, and the maintenance of an important community resource are what we value.  Very proud to be a part of such a great institution. 

So, time to wrap this up.  Birthday Vacation Week still has a couple of days left in it.  Perhaps a voice lesson will happen, perhaps a trip to the car dealer to get the oil changed, all depending on what the weather does Friday.  (Guess I better get cracking tomorrow on that list.) 

Thank you my friends,including Ron Perlman, whom I DO consider a friend,  my family, my coworkers, and especially Matthew, for making this such a lovely day for me.  I am SO happy.  I don't know if I'll ever stop smiling. 



“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Birthday Week Part III: The Rest Of The Story

This is what I did for the rest of my birthday week, as near as I can remember.  This being Sunday afternoon, it may take a bit of thinking to figure out what happened when.

Wednesday was the day after my birthday, and I had to go in to work for a short meeting.  I didn't mind, after all, it was a short, productive meeting, and I got to see my fabulous coworkers! 
I also bragged to a select few about my birthday tweet from Ron Perlman! 
Before my meeting, I stopped at Lowe's to get a new doorbell.  Seems the reason we didn't know when my flowers arrived on Tuesday was that the doorbell was broken.  Our friend Mike discovered that when he arrived.  I did all the things I could think of, and it didn't resurrect the doorbell, so I bought a new one.  It was an easy replacement job, as both this one and the old one are wireless doorbells.  No electricity involved!

This is the inside portion of the new doorbell.  The new button is also dark, which will make it easier to see on the white woodwork next to the front door!  I will not be posting a picture of the bell because it is freakin' COLD our there right now, and I didn't make a picture the other day. 
Took me just a few minutes, and the doorbell was back in working order.  Doesn't sound like real bells like the old one did, but it's a doorbell.  Plays Westminster Chimes.

After the meeting, I went to Kohl's to check out the sales.  I found a black pencil skirt in a size that I can wear now, as opposed to the ones I have that I pray stay up when I wear them.   I also found a very nice pair of black Levis in the cut and size that I really like.  Nice to have enough pairs of decent jeans to wear.  I also found some really nice fleece thermal tops.  They are thin enough to layer under a sweater, and they are WARM.  I may exchange the shirt I'm wearing now for one of them. 
For dinner that night, we had leftover corned beef and toast.  Just the good things.  Of course, there was cake for dessert...

 That was excellent corned beef, and a very good cake, if I do say so myself! 





We also actually managed to make it to choir practice Wednesday night!  It was a relief to be there again!

On to THURSDAY:

On Thursday morning, I had an appointment with my hairdresser.  Time for a trim and to re do the color.  (The older I get, the more often this must be done.  Not ready to let the gray out yet.  I wanna wait until it's a little better distributed than it is right now...)  After my haircut, I came home and took another shower (itchy cut bits of hair all over the place) but of course, didn't wash my hair.  (Can't wash until after the color's had 24 hours to settle in.)  I got dressed, and though I had wanted to go out shopping again, I just didn't feel like it.  I lazed around and read a lot.  (Hey, what else is a vacation for?)

On Friday, I got up, did my walk, and got myself out to the stores.  I got a frame for the one autographed picture of Ron that was not already hanging in my office, and I got cartridges for the ink jet printer, and I stopped at Penney's, where I found a lovely silver grey top on sale, and a little black dress on clearance for $9.99!!  I could totally not believe that the dress was only $10, but it was.  Fits beautifully, and will be very versatile, as any little black dress should be. 

The rest of Friday was a lazy lovely day.

Saturday I did laundry and read and played on Twitter.  Watched Quest For Fire last night, and when we were done, picked up Twitter to find the #Perlgirls all upset that Ron had apparently injured his hand.  He tweeted us eventually that he was OK, just had a little accident.  He knows we worry.  Well, I feel kinda like I have an extra brother these days.  I do worry about him, like I worry about my brothers and my sister.  God knows, I even used the family admonition on him when we said goodbye in Dallas.  Yup.  I told him to behave himself.  (Like THAT'S going to happen!) ;)

So, after all the excitement last night, I went back to my reading and finished folding my last load of clothes.  Then I took my Nook to bed and read there for awhile until Matt was ready to go to sleep. Still working on too many books at once and not finishing any.  (At least I didn't finish one this week.  I have to update my Goodreads, because I have finished a couple since the last update.)

This morning, I got up, got myself organized and got showered and dressed, and then looked at the road conditions.  No way were we going to make it safely to church.  Well, we might have gotten there, but we would not have made it home, given what the weather has been doing since about noon.  It was already icy and snowing a little, but since noon we have had thunder sleet and snow.  Roads are REALLY awful now.  So, even though I have a great haircut and had a great outfit, I had to stay home.  But I made pictures. 

 Here's the new silver grey blouse and the new skirt.  I know this will be comfy even under choir vestments, and I did have a jacket to wear over it for the rest of the time. (Plus I would have worn one of my hooded capes)  The outfit with jacket is shown below: 

 I also was playing around with the camera and came up with this self portrait:

It looks like I've seen something suspicious on my phone, doesn't it? 

That wraps up the birthday week pretty much.  I discovered while eating my cereal this morning that one of my molars has a problem.  Perhaps a broken filling, perhaps time for another crown.  Much as it hurts, I suspect a crown in my future.  Doesn't help that the sinus issues have already got all the nerves in the area unhappy.  Going to be fun trying to get to the dentist tomorrow too, always assuming he can see me.

So Birthday Week ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.  At least it'll be easy to stick to my diet until I get the tooth fixed.  Eating can get painful.  Still at 139 pounds right now, but I'll take it.  Better than 168, which is where I started out last year. 
Here's hoping I'll be down to 130 or 125 by next Birthday Week, 'cause that's my goal weight.

Shopping Day

Today was my major grocery shopping day. I do this only once a month, the rest of the month I just pick up whatever perishables we run out of, like milk or salad greens.

I go to the Commissary at Tinker Air Force Base. My husband is retired from the Air Force, and we enjoy this benefit among others because of his long years of service. Things are not always cheaper at the commissary, but more things are than not, and I am not one who will drive all over town (wasting gasoline) to hunt for bargains at several different stores.

The local stores in Moore still make plenty off of us because there are some new things I want to try that the commissary is lagging behind on getting. Also, most over the counter medicines and beauty products are more readily available and cheaper at local stores. I also buy my milk locally because the commissary doesn't carry the brand of skim milk that I really like.

This time I managed to stick to my list at the commissary and at the Walmart Neighborhood Market, and so came in under my grocery budget. No small feat these days. Even with many items that are rather costly that I don't buy very often, I stayed under the max budget. Not so long ago, that didn't happen often. I have increased the budget, but the amount I spent today would have been under the old budget as well. Food prices have gone up, so I guess our more health conscious diet is also cheaper. (Less processed and junk food items.)
I did make a major purchase of Halloween candy, but it IS that time of year, and there were lots of good sales at the commissary on stuff I had coupons for. Trick or treaters in our neighborhood will luck out. I also got my pumpkin for $1.99.

Today is also the day I get out our gasoline money and spending money. Ouch. The gas money has taken a bigger bite this year than ever. We usually have some left over, but we hang on to it because we never know when gas will go up yet again. Central Oklahoma, like many urban/suburban areas in this country, has no discernible public transportation system. If you are going to get to work, or run errands, you have to have a car. (Or be a senior citizen. Here in Moore, they have a pick-up/drop-off service that takes folks to doctor visits, the library, shopping, the beauty parlor/barber shop, etc.)

All in all a pretty satisfactory day. My husband even installed a new firewall on my computer and cleaned up some files and got everything running really well while I was making dinner, and then he cleaned up the dishes for me. He's pretty useful. Think I'll keep him.