Year 28

Can't believe it! I've turned another year older and moved on to greater and better things.....
Saturday, September 11 was the big celebration - or at least the day for the reason for the celebration. See, in my family, birthdays were a big deal. Well, not just big, HUGE! If your birthday was coming up, the special treatment had begun. In our house, momma used to joke that we celebrated "birthday kwanza" (I think she enjoyed it more herself than anyone else). The celebrations began at least a week prior, and most of the time ended on your birthday day, or the day after. That way, everyone could celebrate with you when they were able. And for my birthday, I shared it with my cousin Kim, so there was always the following:
-intimate family party (with mom, dad, sis)
-extended family party (with aunts, uncles, cousins (and kim)
-friend party
-work/school party

I use "party" loosely, but there was always something involved to celebrate. This year was no different, but instead of several days of celebration, it was like celebrating EVERY HOUR FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS!!!! My wonderful friends Terri and Michelle took me for lunch to Nishie Gs (love the fried squash), then J's parents took us to City Tavern (great tilapia and garlic fries), went shopping with my good friend Ann Louise on Saturday, dad and Brenda took us to Longhorn Saturday night, then J and I ate Fatz (with my free bday meal coupon, of course!) on Sunday for dinner. The best part - we only paid for J's meal at Fatz ALL WEEKEND! What a cheap way to eat a bagillion calories and get my fried-food intake for the year in such a short period of time.
I don't care - it was all worth it. The best part of this year's celebration: I had a little sweet Miriam to remind me of the beauty of birth. I thought about how mom must have felt each year we celebrated birthdays because I felt that this time. (I already can't wait to celebrate with Miriam on her birthdays). There's such an excitement about the specialness of the day that you just can't tuck away...you want to celebrate as much as possible with those you love. No wonder Mom invented "birthday kwanza" - I'm just sad mine is over until next year.