Who Just Had a Birthday? I Did!

Yes, yesterday was the 53rd anniversary of my birthday. I always begin the day by silently asking the Lord to wish my twin & only sister, Kathy, a happy birthday (she only lived 4 hours).

As we grow older, at least in my case, we don't get so many gifts as we used to when we were little; but this year I was blessed w/an exceptionally "gifty" birthday. :-)

The 1st gifts were from my sweet DD#2 (before she got sick). We happened to both have Wednesday off work so we went on a girl's day out to a local outdoor mall ~ The Green ~ & had lunch & zipped in & out of lots of great shops. She got me a lovely lace & linen-ish top & I got myself a neato necklace (above).

The 2nd gift was from ourselves, lol. About 3 weeks ago my old stove bit the dust ~ fortunately, I hit the breaker before it took the house with it! So, on Thursday my new stove arrived! I'll let you in on something . . . b/c I had no stove, for the 1st time in years I HAD to BUY a loaf of bread AND a small bottle of laundry detergent! ACK! I nearly choked when I saw the price of the detergent . . . 1 more reason to keep making my own detergent! And, of course, the 1st thing I baked in my new oven was a loaf of bread. :-P

Friday, my co-workers sang Happy Birthday to me & our manager, who is a jewelry maker, gave me a lovely set of earrings that she made ~ fallish-earth-tones ~ totally "me."

With my actual birthday being on a Sunday, the day was a bit of a whirlwind . . .

My sweet 21 yr old DD#2 now has a cold (she's doing better today, thank you) which she "lovingly gave" to THE Man. So, DD#2 spent the day on the couch being warmed & worried over by Maggie (the dog), while my sweet Man went to church early for the 8:30 service for Deacon duties (I don't DO 8:30 services), even though he was under the weather. I then went in before the 2nd service for worship team practice. THE Man went home to rest a little before we went out for lunch, after completing his Deacon Duties for the 2nd service, while I stayed for that service.

I went home to check on DD#2, pick up THE Man & then we met DD#1 & some dear friends at O'Charlee's. I have to tell you that I am very undeservedly BLESSED to have my little family & our dear friends who love me. Sundays are such busy days for many of us ~ sadly, not the Day of Rest that it is meant to be :-/ ~ & to have dear ones who will take the time to celebrate w/us means the world.

When we went out to eat, our sweet DD#1 got me a bag of mini Reese's cups :-P

& the sweetest card! It says:

My Amazing Mom ~
For all you are
and all you do,
I'll always be
in awe of you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
~
Love you so much!!
Happy Birthday!
Love, J & J

How could I ask for more from my girls?

Then our friends gave me the most gorgeous scarf/shawl. (Does this match the shirt above or what?!) The funny thing is that just that morning, it was a little cool & I was wishing for something exactly like it to put over my bare arms! And as if that weren't enough, a lovely necklace to boot! The Lord is SO good!

Their son, our sweet god-son, got me a card w/balloons on the front. 11 yr old "D" drew the faces of each one of us ~ his parents, himself & our family (including Jessica) on each of the balloons. Too cute. Inside, our friends wrote:

There is simply not enough words
in the English language to tell you
how much we love you, "T" &
the girls. It is a privilege to be on this
journey in Christ with you.
It is your love that demonstrates God's love
for us. "D," "M" & myself are blessed
to love you

Why do people like to make me cry in public?!?! lol

And as if that weren't enough ~ my Sweetheart, THE Man, got me a lovely card which reads:

A man like me has a lot to
be thankful for ~
And at the top of the list
is you ~
a woman who knows me,
accepts me,
and whose love has made
so many things right.
I'll never know what I did
to deserve a life this good.
But I do know what's at the very
heart of it:
You.
Beautiful you.
Happy Birthday
~
I love you more each day.
Me

I hope our girls will have men that will give them cards like this. (I think one already does.)

Thank you for letting me gush a little. It's been such a long 3 yrs since THE Man's layoff, my mom's illness & passing, having to go back to working outside the house & all ~ I just wanted to share my wonderful day w/you.

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><