Happy Birthday to Me, #43. (Geez, I'm so old!)

Due to overwhelming popular demand, and another glass of pinot (grigio, same cheap bottle, Kira), I'm going to tell you all about my birthday.

Actually, I'm going to give you the highlight of my birthday.

Around 6:15 AM on October 10, I heard little footsteps down in the kitchen, and I knew the kids working on something for me. Sure enough, when I came downstairs at 6:45, David & Kathleen had been working feverishly to whip up my favorite breakfast: peanut butter on an English muffin. That was special. They also gathered up every candle in the house and lit them all to create the candle-lit breakfast ambiance. Very special. Then David presented me with a gift: It was a book. Not just any book. David had secretly made a list of all the books stacked up beside my bed and took the list to the bookstore. He told the clerk, "This is what my mom is reading, can you recommend a book she would like?" (Clever, clever boy!) Sure enough, a very nice book was recommended and purchased with precious allowance funds.

In the background of my candlelit breakfast was some very nice classical guitar music. The night before my birthday, I was telling David that I used to have a CD by David Russell. I wanted him to hear it because he is studying guitar and I thought he should be exposed to classical guitar. I couldn't find my CD, so I told my David that he could hear a sample of the David Russell CD on Amazon.com. Sometime after I showed him that sample, he went on iTunes and downloaded a piece by David Russell. He coaxed his big sister into loading the song on my iPod. The morning of my birthday, he arranged to have the song playing on my iPod speakers while I had my little breakfast.

Now, isn't that the perfect birthday?

Other highlights: Paul arranged to take my sister and my friend to dinner with us, and then we saw a famous stand-up comedian who shall remain nameless. I received a lovely Taize CD from a fantabulous friend. My thoughtful sister got me my favorite candy (Dutch mints) and some beautiful crocus bulbs. I love crocus! My family had a delicious dinner at Stroud's, winner of a well-deserved James Beard award. All in all, it was a great birthday, even though there was no surprise trip to London.

Don't you just hate it when...

Don't you just hate it when you click on a blog and there's been no updating? Or worse...the only update is some stupid flower picture?

Well sorry, my friends, but that's what you got when you clicked on this blog.

Then again, isn't this a beautiful photo of my October morning glories contrasting with the fall foliage on my Virginia creeper?

Oh sure...I could write about the election, and I could speculate on the amazing fact that McCain aspires to the nation's highest office when he can't even put together a coherent sentence.

I could write about my job, and the fact that I freaking LOVE giving out the flu shots. Especially when somebody says, "are you going to give me the shot now?" and it's already done.

I could even write about the frozen California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken pizza I just made and about how extraordinarily delicious it was. (Or is that the pinot talking?)

Maybe I shouldn't even blog at all after drinking pinot or any other alcoholic beverage. Yeah... I should probably just stick to the flower pictures.

Look Who Stopped By to Visit!

The two lastest visitors to my garden. It won't be long until the first frost -- I'm enjoying these last few days of warm weather.