Birthday time again!!

My birthday this year was perfect. The whole birthday weekend was perfect, actually (I'm ignoring the fact that I wasn't entirely well, because I wasn't sick enough to let it get in the way of my celebrations). 

You can't tell from this picture, but one of my nieces and
I both have Wonder Woman on our shirts -- LOVE IT!

The actual birthday was on a Friday. Awesome!! I took it off work, and Mom and I took my nephew and nieces to Hogle Zoo. Mom picked me up at my place, and she and the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me, which was about the cutest thing I'd ever heard. I love those kids! The girls almost immediately noticed the tiny tiara I was wearing and both asked to try it on. I refused, because I knew if I let one wear it, the other would be upset, so it was easier to explain it was MY  birthday tiara, so I wanted to wear it; they were very understanding of my apparent selfishness. Trying to get a photo of the three kids and me with the giraffes was a lost cause -- Breezy was not interested and kept squirming out of my arms -- although the series of photos Mom took trying to get a good shot is pretty funny (you'll note we're missing the giraffes in the photo above, but it's the best of our faces). One of my favorite moments was over at the sea lion exhibit. Zonks and a bunch of other little kids kept running back and forth to chase after a sea lion that swam back and forth. She kept heralding its arrival like it was the greatest thing in the world... it kind of was :D I was glad the G-child liked the crocodiles and monkeys as much as I do, especially the golden lion tamarins, who have the same color hair he does -- ha ha!

That evening, I met with the surviving members of the "Dating Books Book Club", Larissa, Nichole, and Ann, so we could all go to the Utah State Fair! I’m so excited it was on my birthday for once! I didn’t have a very long list of things I wanted to do:

• take a picture in front of the butter cow sculpture:

Notice the Hunger Games theme

• eat something deep fried, and a funnel cake
• drink my first Diet Coke in a year

We saw the world’s longest alligator, which turned out not to be as long as we thought it would be (but worth $1), watched a demonstration on knives, and got free water bottles at a talk radio booth even though I didn’t want to jump in the dunking booth. We also spent a lot of time looking at the prize-winning crafts and laughed about how there’s a category for absolutely EVERYTHING. The “Best in Show” was a huge crab created out of car parts, and we all had to admit it was pretty cool. 

Oh, and I must say, the deep-fried Snickers was DELICIOUS (notice the use of all CAPS)!! I was afraid it would be too rich... turns out it's silly to fear something like this. Now I'm looking forward to next year when I can have another, and I will remember to bring a glass of milk with me!

After we'd had enough of the Fair, Nichole and I headed to the Quick Wits improv comedy show at the Midvale Main Street Theater. We got in for free even though neither Larissa’s or Nichole’s boyfriend were in the show that night. It was a funny show. A good end to a great day!

I had kind of wanted to perform on my birthday this year. Since my birthday was on a Friday, that didn't happen, but a ton of my friends came to the show on Saturday! Then a HUGE group of cast members from both casts went to Chili's after the show and sang “Happy Birthday” to me (I say huge, but remember that it's all relative, considering there were only 11 people in each cast). We all got along, but we weren't very social outside of the show, so it was nice to spend some "away" time with my Little Women family. They are such terrific people!!

My family was incredibly generous at the family dinner on Sunday. Mom made amazing tacos and German chocolate cupcakes (I ate the leftovers for a week -- yay!). Once again, I wore a tiara, and my nieces were a little jealous. It cracks me up when my nephew asks why I'm wearing one, because my nieces seem to think it's a fairly normal thing for a girl to do ;-) I was amazed by the awesome gifts everyone gave me. They were so thoughtful and kind. I love opening gifts, and I love that my family wanted me to have them!

It seemed the birthday celebrations were more or less winding down...after Besty Birthday it would all be over for another year...

And then... last Friday, while I was convalescing at home, the doorbell rang. It was my mom. She had brought over a gorgeous bunch of flowers, and a couple more gifts! She said, “I was doing errands today and thought of a few more things I wanted to give you for your birthday.” She didn’t expect me to be home, so she was just going to leave them on my table as a surprise! Of course, I cried. It was so incredibly sweet and lovely, especially since my birthday had been two weeks previous. My mom really is the best. She brought over a gift from Aaron (the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice DVDs!!!!) that hadn’t arrived in time for the family party, and a few other little things! Just so cute and unexpected. I love her so much. Happy birthday to me, indeed!

Thank you everybody for your birthday wishes and generosity. I am so very blessed. I can't think of any way my birthday week/month could have been better. I am looking forward to whatever may happen this year and hope all of you will be a part of it!