Today's My Birthday!

Every year, 2 weeks after Christmas, I celebrate my birthday. Since it's so close to Christmas and New Year's it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. On the other hand, many years I've been able to combine all the festivities and milk it for all it's worth.

One year, I think I was 10 years old, I had the mumps and had to cancel a big party my mother had planned. Two years in a row my husband forgot my birthday. On the good side, however, I've also had 3 or 4 surprise parties, and I usually have a variety of coffee and lunch dates with friends during my birthday week.

This was a pretty low-key birthday, but it had all of the right ingredients: time with family, special phone, e-mail and Facebook messages, quiet time for myself, great gifts, dinner out, a movie, and a snuggle with the youngest kids.

My husband bought me something special and meaningful this year: an all-cotton blanket and a mug from Gustavus Adolphus College (my alma mater)