My Birthday Day

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 52–the same number of years old as there are weeks in the year. Also, the same number as their cards in a regular deck of cards, not counting jokers. Anything else?

Hmm, Wikipedia tells here (here) that it is the 5th Bell number, that it is a vertically symmetrical number, and that it is the atomic number of Tellurium. I also see it is the number of white keys on a piano, and the international dialing code for Mexico.

But for me, it’s my age, as of yesterday. It was a fairly normal day, but a good day, full of lots of little blessings.

It started pretty much with a nice breakfast courtesy of my wife. The brekky (as we say here in Australia) consisted of eggs from our chickens, smoked salmon, hash browns, stewed tomatoes with mushrooms, and toast. All three of my daughters were there–my eldest is only recently back from six months away, so just having her present is a still a bit of a treat.

At the end of breakfast I got some cards and presents from my family. Gifts included a new T-shirt (Bug Bunny-themed), some really durable socks, and my favorite chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

I don’t eat as many of these as I used to for fear of the negative health impact of too much sugar or fat, but I do have them now and again. It certainly is a nice treat to have them on hand.

I also got a new sweater, which I like. It nicely replaces my previous sweater, and makes me not look quite as much like a vagrant as I might otherwise.

Can you spot the difference?

The Old

The New

The presents came with some fun cards. This one was from my younger two daughters.

That’s me, with the Legion of Super-Heroes, being asked to go to the future with the Legion of Super-Heroes, in case you didn’t know.

The girls also got me a “gift voucher” for Big Finish (producer of fine licensed Doctor Who audio dramas), as you can see here.

And my other daughter (the eldest) got me this card.

She knows the Avengers are not my favorite (although I enjoy the movies as much as anyone), but pointed out she made this small addition to the card:

That’s me, apparently, wearing a cape (and not a skirt), flying by Hulk’s head.

The birthday fun didn’t end there, and nor did the regular business of life. My middle daughter is in the middle of a round of Year 12 exams (lots of work, lots of studying) so I drove her to school so she could prove her ability in English.

Then I went home and helped my youngest (who is home-schooled) with her math.

Later, I went by the coffee-shop at the missions centre that I work at, and someone got me this cup of coffee.

And after picking my up middle daughter at the end of her exam, I got some work done in the office. And somewhere in all of this, I solved the day’s Redactle puzzle, which turned out to be “Angola” and thus not all that difficult.

For part of the afternoon I joined some work-mates for a meeting which turned out to be a little party with cake. (See the picture up top). So that was a nice surprise (and tasty).

And in the evening, my wife and I went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It wasn’t “fine food”, but it was a fun meal and a fun outing. In our busy lives we don’t get the chance to do this all that often.

We were home before it was too late, and spent the evening watching the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. It’s a movie I’ve seen a long time ago, and at the time I didn’t actually like it all that much. But I’ve always heard it was a great one and I wanted to see it again.

We loved it! Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are so funny, and there are so many hilarious things that happen. So much fun.

So that’s a bit of a summary of my birthday-day. There are some other activities which mean that the birthday celebrations are really lasting all week (until next Monday at least). And there are various presents that I’ve bought online with money I was given, which will add to the fun when they start showing up.

You know there is a lot of bad stuff in the world, and there is a lot that is difficult and painful even in my own life. This, I imagine, is true for anyone reading this as well. Basically, there is a lot to be sad about, or angry, or discouraged. But on my birthday I got to spend time with my family, doing some normal things and some special things. I got to spend time on my work, doing things which I feel are meaningful. And I got to enjoy life and find things to laugh about with people that I love.

Whatever else is true about the world, I had a good day which I’m really grateful for, and I have a lot of reasons to smile.

Plus I got this cool selfie with my cat.

Many blessings to all of you.

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