Like almost everyone’s these days, my birthday last Thursday began on Facebook. Greetings came in all day, pinging my phone over and over. Very heartwarming to see Happy Birthdays from so many people from my past and present. If Facebook is good for nothing else, it at least has increased the number of birthday greetings that we get.

The day itself was pretty typical. I wrote and Tweeted and organized. Charlie met with his assistant. There were some atypical moments, though. We got our chimney cleaned. (And I was sad to discover that it was NOTHING like the chimney sweep scene in “Mary Poppins.” I was so looking forward to watching Charlie “Step in Toime.”) Abby got her braces on, which was exciting and a little painful for her. And the EXTEHRMINATOHR (say it in Arnold’s voice) came to rid our house of creepy crawlies.

Our family celebration really began in the afternoon, after we got home from the orthodontist. I arrived to a dozen roses and a smiling husband. Abby had homework to do, so Charlie and I sat out on the deck together and read.

I was finishing A Dog’s Purpose, by W. Bruce Cameron. If you’re a dog lover, you’d probably enjoy this story of a dog who lives a number of very different lives. It’s funny and heartwarming and tragic. (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to reveal that a dog that lives a bunch of lives has to die over and over. The death scenes gutted me.)

Anyway, I got to sit in the breeze overlooking the lake and read for about 90 minutes. Delicious. Then Hannah and Abby decided to chat with me. For awhile, I tried to read between interruptions. Am I the only parent who does that? Sees the kids’ attempts to connect as interruptions?

In this case, the “interruptions” came closer and closer together, until I could finally only read about half a sentence between them. Call me slow, but I finally clued in and put the book down. While Charlie made dinner, we chatted and the girls played with the dogs (Irony: I traded a fictional dog for real dogs + kids.)

Dinner took longer than expected, but the grilled steak and potatoes were awesome, as usual. We stayed on the deck to eat. Then, with the light slowly fading, we ran all the food inside, locked the dogs outside, and hustled down to the dock. Charlie’d thought of everything: cake, forks, plates, napkins. We clambered aboard the boat and took it out to the middle of the lake – just in time to catch the last sliver of sun disappearing behind the hills.

And we had my birthday cake on the lake.

 How awesome is that?

Dusk descended and we watched the colors on the horizon fade. The kids soon got squirrelly and bored. So it was back to the dock and up to the house, where we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in front of the TV. We watched “Chopped” on the Food Network, which was fun. How would YOU use both catfish and cherry soda in one dish?

I hereby declare September 29, 2011, a very good birthday. It was fun and relaxing and full of love. Abby prayed that night that it would be my “best birthday ever.” I think she might have gotten her wish.

I’m on a boat! Eating cake! is originally posted at: The Red Clay Diaries - Rambling down the dirt road of life Copyright 2007-2011. Use only with permission. Follow me on Twitter. I'm redclaydiaries