All Things Woompty

My husband says that just because I'm cute doesn't mean I'm not annoying

My birthday weekend can pretty much be summed up with one picture:



There are worse ways to celebrate one's 32nd birthday than to celebrate it with a pancake the size of a small European country while surrounded by good friends who are showering you with gifts like this:



I also got to go shopping with some of my birthday money, and on top of that I have oodles of gift cards to do MORE SHOPPING with. My friends know me well, I must say: toys, wine and gift cards to go shopping with are basically perfection.

The past year since my last birthday has been pretty much complete turmoil, and as a result I've let some friends drift (or be shoved) out of my life. I just don't have the time or the energy to deal with people who are so self-focused that they bring more turmoil to my life just by being themselves. Demanding that the world revolve around you and your beliefs or way of thinking is a really good way to make me uninterested in you.

But this weekend left me realizing that the friends I still have, the ones who have passed muster and made it through all the crap in each other's lives...they're really good ones. They're just good people to have around me and Sunday was just such a lovely time, being able to look around at these people I adore who adore me back so freely. but as happy and content as I am with my group of friends, sometimes they still amaze me.

Like my friend who is both a member of our bowling team and a fellow scrapbooker. I was bitching to her about how I have to somehow come up with $325 to pay the psychologist I have to go see to meet some insurance requirements for the surgery approval. I wasn't over stressed, since I do have an FSA account to repay me, but I don't have an extra $325 to throw around right now. So what does she do?

She writes me a check. No prompting from, she just offered to pay for it and let me repay her once my FSA reimbursement came in. As she put it, it's not like she doesn't see me every week so it'll be easy enough to collect on the debt. To her, it was not that big a deal, just a friend helping out a friend.

To me, it was huge. It's amazing to me that I have people who are willing to do things like this for me, especially considering that I have family members who wouldn't be willing to do it. and it made me realize (again) that I am so, so lucky, on this birthday as much as any ever before.

And not just because of the giant pancake.

posted by Melinda @ 9:00 PM