My Happy Birthday

Friday was my birthday. And I'm not going to tell which one it was! I usually never talk about it at all. But this was an especially wonderful and loving birthday.

My children, so many friends and John all made the day exciting and fun. Wildflower & carrot seeds for my new garden, Flame-Broiled Sudoku, a reading lamp for when we lose power, a scallop dinner at the Weathervane in Lebanon, New Hampshire, cards, phone calls, e-mails, Facebook messages, donations to Northwoods from England (thank you, Ruth!), Connecticut (thank you, Anna!), Washington, DC (thank you, Dan!), and California (thank you, Marj!), an iTunes certificate . . . what a day! To make it more special, John came up from New Hampshire on Thursday and we drove back to his place on Friday afternoon (see the next post for the reasons why). These loving remembrances make a woman feel needed, loved and not forgotten.

The weekend continued with the gooslings hatching on the beaver ponds in Vermont. Matt has e-mailed me saying how the four babies are swimming about with the parents. It's going to be wonderful to try to capture them with my camera. And Amy e-mailed that my New Hampshire licensure for mathematics grades 5-8 has arrived at the house! And of course, there have been photos (this photo is of a cone flower seed head in John's field) and encounters with birds.

The weekend is winding down now. The Regional Educational Laboratory Program gave each of us participants a $25 Dunkin Donuts gift certificate. Of course, there are no Dunkin Donuts within 20 miles of Barton. But there are here in New Hampshire! I found one in New London, NH this morning and it was the best Dunkin Donuts I've ever visited.

Thank you, everybody! This is a year to remember — for so many reasons both professional and personal.

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