Birthday 2014 Anchorage

So... my family is big on birthdays. Today was mine. An Aussie friend of mine woke up at God knows what time to call me by 9:30 this morning to say "Happy Birthday, Tru. You are a darling." He probably passed right back out afterwards, but how sweet.

My niece +Gabrielle B got the jump on everyone & sent her birthday wishes (

My niece and sister really went out of their way to make this a special day for me. With everything else they have going on, they made sure I had a lovely party full of family and friends and good times. That was later. First, my sis had dialysis today, so after I dropped her off, I started my errands with a free (birthday) treat from Starbucks:

Espresso Frappe. Venti sized. Yum!

Then I spent time at the house with my sister and niece and DJ. I got to talk and text with all my Stateside brothers, aunts and cousins who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday. One of my brothers kidded that I was turning 55. I reminded him that he is the older sibling. He backed off and suddenly remembered that I am not yet that old!

I really hope that my Facebook and G+ apps were behaving because I had a lot of people to thank for their kind wishes. My phone started dying before noon. I plugged it in for 2 hours without realizing the charger was not the right one for my phone :-(


DJ and I had a lot of fun today. He's getting so dang big now.

all those toys & he sits in a rubber bin...

he knows how to come in and out of house now...

him and that bin!

Then a longtime friend of mine and my sister's (who had spent the night) hung out and talked about days when we were all about 25 years younger than we are now. My sister was styling half & half on the hair today. She went bald for most of the food prep we did, then she sported one of her wigs for the actual party. I'll have to get all the pics from people who took them. My camera was dead for most of the afternoon.

After this delicious dinner...

Chicken & shrimp Pad Thai

... I got to ride with one of my friends in his rebuilt Mustang. Don't tell anyone, but we hit about a 100 mph three times on some empty boulevards. I haven't had that much fun in the passenger seat of a car since I got my first teenage kiss. My niece got video of us taking off. I'll have to get a copy.

Because I am leaving soon, the fam is going to be gifting me with cards and things I need once I get to "Mayberry". Because they are my family though, they got me this to take with me:

my birthstone

Now, it's getting late. I only had one glass of wine all evening. We have to be up early in the morning for chemo and all that biz.

I have an awesome group of people who love me and make me feel loved when I most need it. I'm so blessed that I don't even know where to start counting. I'm just going to thank God for another year of life & be thankful that I made it to 53.

Good night all.

Peace
--Free