Another Day, Another Year

Today is my birthday.  And while I consciously choose not to dwell on the actual number of that birthday, I feel pretty darn good about it.  I may owe a big part of that warm, fuzzy feeling to a woman I was chatting to at the NDSC conference in Denver last weekend.  Sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a friend to come pick me up, I started up some small talk with the woman and her adult daughter with Down syndrome who were sitting across from me.  The woman, obviously blinded by my youthful glow (haha), asked me if I was a sibling. 

Yep, you read it right.  A sibling.  Not like I couldn't be somebody's sibling, which I am, but generally the siblings of people with Down syndrome that attend the conference are not of parenting age. 

Somehow I managed to choke back my surprise and tell her that I was a parent (look of shock and awe #1) and that I would actually be 45 in 3 days (look of shock and awe #2).  My mind scrambled to find a way to mentally bottle her visible reaction to this news.  I think can can recall it pretty accurately, and that is what will get me through this birthday hump.  Her timing was impeccable. 

Steve surprised me with the most amazing, perfect birthday present when I got home from work yesterday.  I've been drooling over a particular camera lens for the last 2 years, and when he asked me for the model, I gave it to him but cautioned him that it was too expensive and I didn't really need it (I have another, somewhat less-practical version of it already), and that he could get me a set of flash-bouncers instead.  Well, he ordered the flash-bouncers (Professor Kobre's Lightscoop - can't wait!!), but when I got home from work, in addition to a cake, a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the most lovely rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" from my sweet girl, there was another present - the lens!  I feel like my life has changed forever.  :-)

It's a week of sweet celebration, too - I guess for this sort-of milestone birthday, it sure can't hurt.  Cake and presents last night, a department dinner outing to a country club tonight for work (including spouses), a lunch meeting and company birthday celebration for all July birthdays tomorrow (complete with cupcakes from the yummy cupcake store across the street from the office), and the tasting for our company holiday party menu on Friday (if you've never been to a tasting before, O....M...G...it's SO awesome being wined and dined for 2 1/2 hours on company time!!).  A trip up to New Jersey to visit family this weekend, and then I can wrap it all up for another year. 

Still sitting on a ton of posts I need to write...  At least I managed to pop out 2 this week!