Celebrate

e Dinner at Terry's ... Salad with homemade hummus, French lentils, mixed greens, hearts of palm, tomatoes, radishes, red onions, lump crab meat, and avocado dressing.

Phew. The whirlwind of birthday celebrations has come to an end. I can't remember the last time I felt so special. The festivities began on Wednesday night when several colleagues took me to Finelli's for dinner. I love crab so had their lovely crab meat lasagna. The portion was huge, so I took half of it home to Paul. We all had wine and chatted about our families and jobs. My friends generously gave me gifts, mostly jewelry, with one notable exception. Tricia, our department chair, gave me one hour of release time because I am heading up the East Carolina University Second Annual Conference on Gifted Education. Whoo hoo! This means I will have one intern less to supervise this fall.

Thursday was yet another celebration ... this one at Terry's house. You can see from the photo above that Terry is a gourmet chef. Truly. Paul, Greg, and I went to Terry's house where we had the "bestest" time! The food and company were exquisite. Greg gave me a book of easy recipes and I can't wait to try them. Along with a hat and jewelry, candles and scented oil, the Atkinsons gave me capsules of fish oil and flax seed oil. Lest you think that is an odd thing to give someone for a birthday gift, let me assure you that it is not. Because of medication, my hair has gotten thinner and thinner. Terry's hair is similar to mine and she began taking the supplements with great results. What do friends do for friends? They make sure that their friends have access to the great successes they have enjoyed.

Saturday night more celebrating was afoot. Paul and I went to Blacksburg to take care of business and to check on my house. While there, Dottie and Judy took us to my all-time favorite restaurant in the entire world--Alexander's in Roanoke. While the food was divine, the company was even better. Dottie had sent me my presents early so that I'd have them for the trip to New England. Judy gave me a set of glasses from Xanadu that Rachael and I have admired in the past. Now I have glasses for sipping sherry AND a bottle of sherry to put into the glasses. Yum!

Last, but certainly not least, Paul and I spent part of yesterday with Brenda and Bernie, two of my favorite people. We met at Cracker Barrel (are you noticing the number of times I have mentioned food and eating?) where we all enjoyed the Sunday chicken special. It was so good to spend time with Brenda and I can't wait until I move back to Blacksburg so that I can see her more often. When I moved to NC and Paul went back to England, Brenda took on babysitting my plants. She and Bernie hauled them to her house. The one that I was most concerned about is a dracaena that I bought in 1974 when it was four inches tall. Thirty four years later, the "tree" is so tall that it won't fit in a standard-sized room. Luckily, Brenda and Bernie live in a big old house with high ceilings.

Well, Paul is waiting for me to help him with a little project so I must end this. I have much to do to get ready for the arrival of Rachael and Miss Lily on Thursday. I am so excited they are coming to visit I'm about to pop!

While I was not able to see my blood sisters for my birthday, I did get to spend time with my other "sisters". What could possibly be more important than family?