I haven't been too thrilled with the thought of this birthday - instead of being "just thirty", I'm well into my thirties now, and thinking, "Where did the time go?". I think I must write a post similar to this on every birthday!
However, I must say and I had a terrific day today. I got a bit of a sleep-in this morning, then got up to be given wonderful presents from my boys. They got me a Nintendo DS lite (a pink one) with a couple of "games"... the Brain Training one and another called Picross (I'd actually asked for the first one - it wasn't a comment about my mental state :) as well as a book of Jane Austen's letters and a playstation game (Buzz Music quiz).
Then a special phone call from Jaime and Shannon in Canada (Thanks, guys! It was so lovely to have such a long chat) and some SMSes from friends. Sometimes I feel so lost and lonely banished out here in the 'burbs while our friends are in contact at work and living in the inner-city, but today I felt lurved and remembered, and not so out of the loop. It was lovely.
My mother cooked a big lunch and invited all my brothers and their families and my mother-in-law over. One of my brothers said, when he arrived, "What's the occasion?" but considering they have three girls at home to look after - the four year old, a feisty almost-two year old and a 12 day old, I forgave them! After all, it was quite an effort to get here and that was the best present I could have got.
It was a lovely afternoon. Ten grandchildren running about (well, except for the youngest three). All my family. I think I'm getting more and more like my father when I say that all I want for my birthday is to be surrounded by my family. Although the presents were fabulous :)
Lots of great photos taken, especially of the three babies. They were pretty good but after five minutes of flashes in their eyes they began to complain. I love this follow-up to the photo of the bellies.
Afterwards we got out the playstation and played the Buzz Mega Quiz which allows up to eight players at once. The kids were all right into it even though they couldn't answer many of the questions. My niece Alexandra had an amazing ability to guess the correct answers. Incredible!
Well, anyway, this has to have been one of the nicest birthdays I've ever had. I just wish my eldest brother could have been here today. He died almost nine years ago and never got to see nine of his nephews and nieces. He used to call me up at the time of my birth (or as close to it as he could get) to wish me a "Happy Birthday" and would have loved gatherings such as this. I really missed him today.
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