Birthday Surprise

My friend JG invited me to eat breakfast with her on Saturday, my birthday.

The day dawned and I trekked down to Shari's to meet her. Whaddayaknow, but I see extra people in her car and then all sorts (no Y chromosomes involved) of persons pile out of two cars and I am informed that we are not eating at Shari's but rather going to J&O's for brunch. 'Twas rather a surprise.

JS (my house mother) went to all sorts of effort making a really nice brunch -- coffee cake, appetizer, the whole bit. I was showered with cards, given some nice gifts (yay, now I have two plants for my room! I don't know why it took me so long to realize that plants would be a nice addition to my abode, but the reflection of carnations in my mirror finally suggested the idea.)
JS even thought to invite CS from across the creek, and AS (JS's sister-in-law) got wind of my birthday and provided a card.

LT emailed from across the US, CB emailed from Corvallis, Grandma V sent a card from Cali, and I got an REI Gift Card from my parents (they couldn't possibly go wrong there -- REI never fails to intrigue me with their neat outdoors equipment, et cetera).

I felt very loved indeed.