April 8, 1968

Say it with me now: April 8, 1968; April 8, 1968. It's got a nice ring to it, right? Repeat that about a million times and you'll get a small feel of what I put my siblings through growing up. Year round I would run around the house saying, "April 8, 1968. April 8, 1968. My Birthday is April 8, 1968." To this day, every one of my 4 brothers and sisters can tell you not only my date of birth, but the year as well. Don't believe me? Take a look at the card my sister enclosed with the beautiful tulips she sent me.

Here are the tulips. Unfortunately, the picture does not do them justice.



I've always liked celebrating my birthday. Maybe it's because I'm the middle of 5 kids and it was the one day I was the star. I don't know. I never felt like I wasn't special. I like getting presents. Maybe that's it. But I have always thought I had a cool birth date and year. All those 8s. Regardless, I've always looked forward to my birthday months before it's arrival. As an adult, I've calmed down a little, but not much. Give me a break. You get presents! How can you not look forward to that? Personally I believe in the birthday week (or even month). Why celebrate for just one day when you can stretch it out?

I did have a wonderful birthday, though. I went out to dinner with my Hubby and girls. This year I got presents the girls each picked out. They are always involved in the process, but this year, as I understand it, they had the final say. MA got me jewelry: a pretty necklace with a purple stone charm and two pair of earrings. Diva gave me perfume. Peanut (ok, I'm guessing she had a little more help) gave me "Steel Magnolias". I've been wanting to watch that recently. MA and I will probably watch it tonight. Hubby gave me the Flip video camera. I'm really excited about it. You may learn to regret it because I'll probably post a lot more videos now! Thank you to everyone for your kind birthday wishes.

Hubby also gave me these roses. Again, the picture does not do them justice.




Dress Update
Things were coming along nicely on my dress until last night. I got the girls to bed a little early so I could go do just one thing on the dress. Unfortunately, I read the directions wrong and put a final stitch in along the neckline that is not easy to get out. I spent 2 hours last night riping out seams and made little progress. I finally had to stop at 11:30 because my eyes were blurring. Thankfully the error did not ruin the dress, but it was a major setback that I didn't need. I always do this, though, so it was only a matter of time. At least I have some back-up dresses in case things all fall apart completely!