“The RoseBouquet”

My computer opened this morning to my Facebook page, which I have totally neglected and ignored since last Tuesday, and lo, and behold, there’s a bunch of birthday greetings for me! That must be what my brother Ernie referred to on Saturday night when Penny and he called to wish me a happy birthday.

How did I spend it? Well, like I keep telling everyone, my birthday is a season that lasts from when the first early birthday card arrives until the last one comes tumbling in the mail. I know there are more coming in this week, so it is not over yet.

Still, I did have several mini-celebrations already. On the third Wednesday of the month the mission staff celebrates all those who have birthdays that month. That’s once. Then on Friday at noon, the staff that were present for lunch celebrated again with a chocolate cake and pumpkin pie and a gift of a sweetheart rose plant. (Unfortunately, I forgot that it would need watering over the long weekend so it’s looking a bit droopy here today). That’s the second time.

Then I took off the afternoon to go visit my dear prayer sister, Kathy, about 40 minutes out of town. Our birthdays are just days apart, so we always try to get together to celebrate. We had a lovely couple of hours together, exchanging gifts and she made a light supper for us both. That’s the third time.

I had internet problems at home, so on Saturday I had to wait for the techie to come visit, but aside from that I had promised myself a sewing binge day. I put all my reno and gardening projects aside and treated myself to something I’d had a yen for quite a while. So I went through my stash of fabrics and cut out one outfit after another. Let’s see, a night gown, an eyelet print blouse, a two-piece blue print set, a beige pant suit set, a green silk skirt, - that’s all I can recall at the moment. However, by the time I had those cut out about 4 pm, my back did not like the idea of leaning over the sewing machine, so I’ll have to sew them up as I can snatch a half hour here or there. I did have the satisfaction of finally getting started though! By the way, I often design as I cut out.

You notice that it doesn’t take a big party or lots of food to make me feel like I’ve celebrated, right? Small pleasures will do it for me.