A very happy birthday

Today is my 45th birthday, and I am delighted. I believe I was born on a Monday -- have to double-check that -- so at least for now I'll think of this Monday birthday as a particularly special one [yup, it checked out -- I was indeed born on a Monday -- how LIKE me to want to start right in at the beginning...]. I love birthdays -- mine and everyone else's. I feel a kind of bemused detachment from my age; my age has always been some interesting number, floating out in space, of which I have been somewhat in awe (hey, look at that! I'm 25, 35, or now, 45 -- how interesting) but I've never felt defined by (and certainly not limited by) my age. Perhaps it comes from being the youngest in my family? I tend to assume I'm younger than most, although of course with each passing year this is less likely to be true.... But it doesn't faze me, in any case.

Above is the spread of collage and text from my handmade calendar (collage is always the left page, calendar the right -- standard set-up, I suppose). Still formulating my plan for today, since the party had to be canceled (see below). A fabulous start already with a wonderful array of gifts from Ken and a handmade card by Ken and Dean. A trip to a bookstore and fabric/craft store may just be the ticket. We always take each other's birthdays, and our own, off from whatever else we're supposed to be doing; it's lucky that today, Presidents' Day, is a holiday for all of us anyway. It makes me sad when people just slog through their birthdays -- none of that at our house!