A Perfect Day

"Was this the Best Birthday Ever?" my kids keep asking me. 
Yup.  It was.  The best Ever.  With all the love and enthusiasm they've been pouring out on me all day, how could it have been anything else?

Our book group friends got here at 8:30 this morning and we had a productive session, with the kids presenting their papers, playing a game with the history cards they are memorizing, having a writing lesson, and working logic puzzles.  They sang "Happy Birthday" to me and we all ate cake.  (Unfortunately, one of our families, five people, couldn't make it, so there is still quite a lot of cake left.)  One of the moms brought me this beautiful jar of cinnamon sweet pickles:

I'd never had cinnamon pickles before, and, to be absolutely honest (though I wasn't with my friend), I was a wee bit skeptical.  After everyone left, though, I opened the jar and tried some, and they are delicious!  I called my friend right away and told her how good they were, just in case any of my doubtfulness had been apparent.  (And now maybe I'll get a jar at Christmas -- they really are yummy!)

My wonderful, sweet parents gave me those glorious stacks of books, and it was a great test of character for me to leave them and do lessons with the kids after lunch.  I worked the "it's my birthday" angle shamelessly with the children while we did schoolwork, and they did finish in much better than the usual time, and with more than the usual cheerfulness.  And then we went out to dinner at the Chinese buffet.  No dishes to wash and very full, happy tummies.

And now all I have to do is decide whether to start on the new Garrison Keillor or the Patricia Wrede which has been tempting me on my Amazon list for several years and is now mine!  It just doesn't get any better than this.