So I turned 48 years old yesterday and it was not as traumatic as I expected. 40 was a bit of a shock to my system but I am in a really good and happy place in my life right now. I have a wonderful partner that adores and pampers me, a great bunch of friends and family who all reached out to me this week, a beautiful home, and I love what I do for a living. Life is really good right now and yet… when I really didn’t think I needed anything else .. I got some pretty awesome gifts this week for my birthday!

To start with.. I got a really cool new phone (Samsung Epic) to replace the Bberry I flushed just before Christmas. (Not one of my happier days) and I think I may even learn how to swype type before the week is out! <grin – my niece is so proud of me> I am normally a bit of a techno-phobe and I do not normally jump on the latest greatest toys bandwagon because I really hate having to learn how to make a phone call, send a text message, and take a photo all over again every damn time I get a new phone, but this baby is pretty sweet and I am enjoying all the new apps I am downloading. Yay!

Next… one of my favorite playmates hooked up a range hood over my stove and I was thrilled by what a difference that makes in my kitchen! Not only does it make it look more finished and pretty but I can actually SEE what I am cooking now! How cool is that?!! Thanks again LH!

I got a really cool plaque from my niece and friend Tom: “Live well, Laugh often, Love much” are definitely words to live by in my book and speaking of books I got one that I have wanted to read for ages from my buddy Drew: “Dark Moon Rising” by Raven Kaldera. I also received lots of cards, emails, text messages, wall posts and flowers too! Wow!

I also was given a couple of cash gifts and decided to spend some of it to get a very special piece of embroidery stitched by a beloved now long gone family member custom framed. It’s one of those things I have been meaning to do for over 10 years and never got around to, so I am really happy and excited about this. The piece is due back in 2 weeks and I can hardly wait and feel a little anxious that it isn’t in my possession right now.

I get a little misty when I think of my Aunt Kit who was actually my mother’s aunt. My mom, who I lost in 1998 at only 58 years old, used to talk very fondly of her aunt Kit. In fact, I was lead to believe that she was far more fond of Kit than of her own mother, but I won’t get into that right now. I met Kit one summer many years ago, when Nelson (also gone) sent me and my husband Myke to the UK on holiday. It was a wonderful trip and I met over 20 relatives that I had never had a chance to meet before. Sadly Kit passed away the following year and I will always be grateful that I got to meet her when I did. Yeah, I have a really deep sentimental streak at times. I will be sure to take a photo when I get it back and hang it up.

So while I am feeling sentimental … I also found some old photos that I framed this week. These are the first photos that I have of myself. The top one is from March of 1963 .. I was barely 2 months old. The others are from that first summer with my mom. I assume they were taken by my dad.

Yeah it’s been a really sentimental and mushy week. Thanks so much to everyone that reached out to me to make this birthday so wonderful and made me feel so loved. I am definitely feeling really blessed.