Celebrating a Birthday

Facebook sure can make a person feel the love on a birthday, right! I enjoyed everyone’s greetings and well wishes for a happy birthday. Many suggested I do something fun.

And I did. Several things, in fact.

I started the day meeting good friends for coffee.

I went to the gym. Briefly.

I worked. A little. But not too much.

My dear husband came home from work early for the sole purpose of baking me a made-from scratch carrot cake, sweetly adorned with the best cream cheese frosting I’ve ever experienced. Check it out!

Amazing! And it tasted as yummy as it looked.

We had dinner – sushi rolls, rice, veggie tempura, and tea -- at Osaka.

More good friends stopped by in the evening for cake and company.

But the coolest part of my day happened when I went to Oak Park Elementary to meet my new Lunch Buddy (through the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization). I didn't know what to expect. I’d never done this before. I was told she was “shy”. But from the second we laid eyes on each other, I feel like I made an instant friend. She was so thrilled to meet me. And I her. She didn't seem shy to me at all. We spent her lunchtime together. I met some of her friends. She told me her favorite color is pink. I shared my radishes and banana. She’s a picky eater, not much one for fruits and vegetables. I told her I’m a writer. Her favorite subject in school is PE. We started getting to know each other like that. I told her it was my birthday, and that getting to meet her was the best birthday present ever. Her smile said it all.

And it’s true. Don’t we receive the best gifts when we give of ourselves to others?

So here’s to another year in this adventure called life!