The Birthday Post

Yes, I know. Post nearly every day for a month and then drop off the face of the planet.  No awards for consistency here.  

Partly I was burned out from keeping up with LOAD.  But I did it! 32 layouts for a total of 45+ pages in one month.  After that period of intensity, I needed a break.  I haven't scrapped in a week and am now a full six days behind in my 31 Things class.  I need to get back in the groove.

Partly it was just that life was busy.  Appointments, work, Becca's Senior Prom (Rachel chose not to attend), a date evening with Jay, oh, and did I mention WORK?  Yes that thing that pays the bills... suddenly got very hectic and was requiring way more of my time and attention than I normally give it. Contracts with "need it yesterday" deadlines, a couple of big projects.  I'm by no means done with it all, but for tonight I'm letting it go.

Partly it's that I've been obsessing over the prep phase of a routine medical procedure I have scheduled for tomorrow morning.  I'm in the midst of that "prep" as I type, so I get distracted, frequently...  Oh well, it will all be over with hopefully by 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Partly it was that I needed time to process...  the one thing I didn't get around to mentioning in my last few blog posts was my birthday.... which was May 29th.  Because that was a work/school day AND I had Tai Chi class in the evening, we celebrated on the 28th.  And let's just say that the 28th brought with it a bit of totally unnecessary teen created drama that definitely threw a wet blanket over the day.  We'll leave it at that.  I think I'm over it.  So, back to my birthday, right???

A few days prior to my birthday, this arrived courtesy of my Mother:

Apparently she had paid attention to my ramblings about really liking bonsai trees when I posted about the Philadelphia Flower Show.  Poor Jay took one look at it and said 'Well, there goes MY idea!'  Yes, he was serious. And disappointed. Guess he was paying attention too!

On the 28th we celebrated my birthday with gifts and cake. We were supposed to go out to dinner as well, but those plans got scrapped. Instead we went out on Friday night while Becca was at Prom.

I was expecting the usual array of new tops from JCPenneys and Kohls and maybe some nice body wash from Bath and Body Works and a gift certificate to Big Picture Classes.  These are the fall backs when the family doesn't have any unique ideas and I always enjoy them, so believe me when I say I would not have been disappointed if that was what I actually opened.  Imagine my surprise and shock when there was not a single one of those things in the packages for me.

Instead I opened this:

I am now the proud owner of a Canon EOS 60D camera with a very pricey Tamron 18-270 "All in One" lens. Plus a couple of filters, a new camera bag, a monopod, and a printer!  I was FLOORED!  

The 60D is an entry level professional DSLR.  I've been secretly longing for one for about three years, but could not justify trading up from my very very OLD Rebel because I hadn't learned all the features yet.  But I couldn't seem to force myself to learn the features because, honestly, I was getting better quality from my little point & shoot - to be expected considering the Rebel was from 2002 and only 6 megapixels, whereas my P&S was only a year old and 14 MP!   Anyway, I am now excited again about the prospect of really learning photography in a big way, but I haven't had any time to play with my new baby yet.  And I have to be careful about saying "my" baby.  Because to be honest, Jay's motives were not entirely altruistic.  He also has an interest in learning photography and he's also interested in the video feature on this camera.  So I have to share. :(  I think I can learn to live with that!

On my actual birthday, this arrived from my sister Deanna:

  Every one of those bits of tissue paper conceals a small gift, hidden inside the big gift.  Gotta love this gal's flair for creative presentation!  The small gifts were some pieces of jewelry she made me and lots of little miscellaneous bits and bobs for mixed media art.  Each of the small items was tucked inside a cubby in this:

 A vintage Coca Cola crate stamped "1972 Chattanooga TN".  In awesome condition!  (And yes, Deb, I totally stole your idea!)

Needless to say, I wasted no time setting it up and loading it up with my craft paint supplies.  If those cubbies were just a smidge bigger I'd have fit in my mists too, but not quite.  I feel like now I have a pre-imposed limit on the amount of craft paint I can own.  No buying more until there is space in the cubbies! (Yes, I consider that a GOOD thing!)

All in all, I'd say it was pretty darn great for turning 51!  Oh... did I mention I got a new camera??? SQUEEEEEEEEEE!