Extended Birthday Celebrations, Part 1

Last week was my birthday.  I'm 50 now, halfway through a century.  How about that?  Nearly everything still works well, on balance, and while I'm happy with my life at this stage, I still have goals to achieve, so this is a fine thing.

I'm a January baby, so when my birthday comes around, everyone is recovering from the holidays and no one is much in the mood to celebrate yet another day.  This means my birthday usually passes quietly.  There have been marked exceptions, like the huge surprise birthday party I got for my fortieth.

And this year.

On Wednesday, the date of my birthday, I arrived in my classroom and found bright birthday balloons and some delightful flowers on my desk.  No card or any clue who they came from.  A little research, though, produced the culprit--fellow English teacher Miclle Singer.  My students saw the balloons and tossed me birthday wishes all day long as a result. :)  And then, when a group of us were eating lunch, Michelle abruptly produced a birthday cake!  Oh, it was good, too.  It was a wonderful surprise.

That evening, I wanted to go out for supper and I chose a Mexican restaurant up the road from us.  Aran stated firmly that he was going to pay for the birthday dinner tonight, and he did.  (!)

But wait! There's more . . .