Autobioblog, or... Happy 49th to Me

I can't say I was ecstatic this morning about the whole 49 thing -- obviously it beats the alternative and all, but still... 49. Wow. That is not a comfortable number. Not like, say, 44 or 45. Still, it has been a really fabulous day, and my knees and digestion are not bothering me any more than they were yesterday, so... on we go!

Before getting on with pictures of all the nice things that happened today, I thought I'd start with a quick overview of the past 49 years. And a big "thank you" to my parents, who made it all possible!

I started very small and cute.

And I liked chocolate.

 This is me on my trip to the Bahamas. Evidently I found the islands a bit dull.

Larger, but still cute.

 And larger still. Catching fish in the Keys.

I had a horse...

 and a good dog.

And then I grew up, stuff happened, and I had babies of my own!

And all of a sudden I am on my last year before I turn 50. Which I do want to do, but...

Today was the Blessing of the Pets at church. "They" decided to bring the pets into the sanctuary this year. Because it was too cold to have the service in the parking lot, way we usually do. This would have been a Very good Sunday for incense. And I learned yet another way I'd have been rotten as an Early Church Martyr -- the sound of a very large dog growling behind me makes it completely impossible for me to pray. There were some very excitable dogs, plus assorted other beasts, and ashes of ex-beasts. And a photo of a horse, on an i-pad. All of them received a blessing (but the priest skipped the Holy Water for the i-pad), and no actual fights broke out. And maybe in a couple months the sanctuary will no longer smell like a kennel. It was great.

It really wasn't awful. And once again I was impressed by how nice our congregation is. If it makes someone happy to bring his chicken to church to be blessed, then by golly, our priest will bless the chicken and everyone will smile and sing something folksy from the 60's. A bit nutty, but I guess I'd rather they erred on the side of acceptance and optimism than in the other direction.

And Katie made me the World's Most Delicious Cake. Strawberry, with chocolate frosting. And a panda in a rocket barrel on top!

And I got wonderful presents from my wonderful family. They know me so well!

Take-Five bars from Katie (plus a Chunky Bar that she hid for last-present!).

 My favorite pens from Travis! Enough to keep me going for a while!

A lovely shirt from Ed, and jeans!

 And books and dvd's from my parents! They have the Best taste in those things!

And then we went on my Birthday Hike!
I couldn't have gotten a more gloriously beautiful day, and aside from a sweet couple we ran into a couple times (they got a bit lost, but I think we gave them good directions to get unlost) we had the trail to ourselves!

Forty-nine doesn't look so bad!