Does this mark the beginning or end of my 28th year?

I think after a lengthy and confusing conversation with my dad, the mathmagician, I can answer this question. Each birthday marks the end, not the beginning, of a year. When I turned 28, it signified that I have been an occupant of Earth for 28 full years. It did not mean that I am starting my 28th year. Though I am unable to articulate why, this thought actually scared me a little. Perhaps you already knew this and it is not alarming. Perhaps no one has a clue what I am talking about. But for me, it was a significant revelation. I've told you before about Altus and revelations...they come at odd times and about strange things...

Regardless, I ended my 28th year on Earth with a bang! First of all, I was able to celebrate the fact that I have two friends with whom I could enjoy lunch on my birthday. This is a big accomplishment and I am ecstatic about it. In Maryland, I ran in packs (wolf-like, I know, but not in a Twilight or Sci-Fi way). I was always surrounded by friends. Friend-making in Altus has been steady, but slow-going; something to which I am unaccustomed. On my birthday, I enjoyed a lovely lunch with Sarah, Robin and baby Caroline at the Grapevine Cafe in Downtown Altus. For the first time I ordered their chicken salad on a croissant, I will never have it any other way. Revelations. The rest of my birthday day was filled with calls, emails, texts, and facebook messages from friends and loved ones. These messages brightened my day and, for the first time in history, I was able to respond to every last one of them. Who says being unemployed doesn't have its perks?

On Monday night, Eric was supposed to make my birthday request, Pad Thai, for dinner. However, I suggested that we postpone the dinner to Friday (instead of a work night), crack open a bottle of wine, and make a date-night out of it. He agreed and we had leftovers instead. After dinner, I heard him banging around in the kitchen, searching through all of the drawers. A few minutes later he walked out with an ice cream cake that he had embellished with Reese's minis (that is love). He sang the birthday song and did a little gig. I made a wish and blew out the candles.

On the weekend after my birthday, Chris, Eric and I met Sarah, her bother, Imran, and her sister-in-law, Betsey, in Dallas. Sarah's birthday was exactly one week after mine so we did a joint celebration out on the town in a real big city. We stayed at The Adolphus and enjoyed dinner at a I-don't-know-how-many-stars restaurant called, Charlie Palmer at The Joule. The hotel and the dinner were about as classy as it gets. The rest of the night was a ton of fun, but I would hardly describe it as classy. We learned a lot about ourselves that weekend. Primarily, that we are more at home in dive bars than in the posh clubs surrounded by lines to get in. Either that or we are incredibly impatient. You can take the kids out of Altus, but you cant take the Altus out of the kids.

All feeling a bit delicate on Sunday, the ride home for Chris, Eric and me was...slow. Once getting home, Eric and I spent the rest of the day doing important things like catching up on our long list of, "movies we want to see."

On Monday, Eric made the best Pad Thai he's ever made. He ended up making it on a Monday anyway because we had decided to have dinner out with friends instead on Friday night (friends who we are happy to still be able to call friends after a major foot-in-mouth faux pas on my part). Let's just say, it's always a good idea to double check who the recipient of your text message is before you press send...but I digress...back to Monday!

We sat at our dining room table (as opposed to on the couch in front of the TV) and enjoyed a meal together. A delicious dinner and face time with Eric was the best birthday present of all.