Thank you all for the birthday wishes and kindness!!!  The apple cobbler was a taste of home (thank you Michelle Leitner!), the apple caramel cheesecake was a taste of heaven (thank you office staff), and the cockroach cake was a sweet reminder of why I love working with these people (thank you Heather Hoekman!)

When students buy me books for my birthday, I know I've done at least one thing right. But when Joseph Liu buys one from a used bookstore . . . I can put my feet up, rest my hands behind my head, and call it a day. Job. Well. Done.

Thank you Joseph and Graceann!

These cards are from Eden and her class. And they are friggen precious. One young girl gave me Wu Jiao and another hoped for Eden to get taller and that I'd have a good day. All of them made me smile.

Zholma gave me Tibetan tea!

My brother, Jeff Birdsong, satisfied the mind, the palate, and the eyes (a bow-tie!) and consequently, the heart as well.

Bekah Teasing reminded me that Penelope Cruz, Edward IV, Oskar Schinder, and I have a lot more in common than I thought. But perhaps more importantly, on this day, the first compact disc of an album was released before it's vinyl record counterpart on this day in 1987 (Tony Bennett's, The Art of Excellence) and that, in 1789, a rebel crew took control of the British ship "HMS Bounty."

Today, as it has been throughout all of history, was a good day.

Thank you all for the gifts, cards, and birthday wishes!  

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