Double Nickle

The big 5-0 was more exciting, more of a celebration, more of an "event". But today was the ideal birthday.

For years I whined about having a birthday too close to Christmas; my gifts were often "this is your birthday and Christmas both". I hated it and thought I was being selfish and self-centered until I discovered other late December birthday people who felt the same way, all the way into adulthood. But Denny has always made a point of making my birthday special and has made sure I live up to the nickname given me by a friend of his who called me "Diamond Lil" the first time we met. Ya gotta love a man who knows that diamonds are always in style!

Darby took the day off to drive down and spend time with us. I drafted his assistance in frosting the Christmas sugar cookies and we talked and played with the cat and looked at old pictures. Denny grilled steaks for us and I prepared the mulled wine from ingredients we brought up from St. Augustine and we enjoyed it all. I also have two dozen roses to remind me of his visit.

My rediscovered buddy from junior high school, Vicki, called and warbled her version of Happy Birthday to me which was a lot of fun. Perhaps by the time Vicki's birthday rolls around in March I'll be able to return the favor to her in person; when their house sells they'll be ready to start their fulltime RV lifestyle. I'm looking forward to that.

Another year older? On days like this, I can live with that.