Happy 37th

This morning it seemed, would turn out to be oh just another day. Except that it was my birthday, so proceeding with just another ordinary day is a little, well, sad and disappointing. That there was nothing special planned, that the husband is not here, that the kids are at school. Just another day.

But then, as the day wore on, it turned out to be not so bad after all.

Pretty much everyone in the family called to wish me a Happy One, even the brother, via the sister-in-law, all the way from the Sudan.
And even Ric called (actually by accident) from Qatar. With days and nights completely reversed for us, I'll give him a pass this time.
Ethan came home from school and created a pop-up card for me.
Alex gave me $.20 from his piggybank.
Evelyn and I baked a cake together for me, and with the kids next door, we spread homemade icing all over that baby before we lit into it as our "after school snack."
Then all the kids burst into "Happy Birthday to You" as we headed out to football practice.

And then, the kids got invited to someone else's house for dinner, and then I got invited to someone else's house for dinner, and then I got to see a movie with my girlfriend, probably the second one in the movie theater in about a year.

So it turned out to be an a very unexpected, very happy birthday. Thanks guys.