okay, i'm too tired to do this justice, but i will be telling you about the most fabulous gift that i received from someone on here -- i won't tell you who until she tells me it's okay. it's from Red Envelope.com, which is one of the luxury sites that i used to peruse back when i had money. i never bought anything from there, but i coveted many of the items, i must admit. i was and still am an Ebay or Ross girl. i like to see what's out there and then go get it for much less.

but this present i received is so luxurious that i was wanting to give it back, but then i realized that even poor people are allowed to have something truly comforting and pampering once in a while. shit, i love the color Red so much that i would have been thrilled with the little red envelope that the lovely card came in. and/or the large RED box with the perfect white ribbon that the gift came in. i want to mount (no, not that kind of mount, perverts) this RED box and ribbon on my wall, it's so gorgeous to me.

i will write more about this divine present later since it's time for me to go to FINALLY go to sleep. my birthday was lovely, for the first time in 6 years. i could not feel more blessed. my heart could not be more full. my OS friends rock major bigtime! and my redneck in-laws toed miraculously toed the line. who knew?

i've never done this, but because i was feeling so sick, i asked the redneck in-laws to come here to celebrate my day. so instead of going to a Biker Bar, we went to an actual restaurant! i cannot even tell you what that meant to me. and this year my cake actually looked and tasted like a cake, not something thrown together and then sat on in a truck. i'm not sure how that came about, but i don't want to jinx next year so i didn't ask.

now i'm not saying that the restaurant was good or anything but i am saying that no fights broke out, no one was injured and my brother in law did not try to undo my bra strap. that is his major claim to fame.

but what made my day so phenomenally special was the fabulous array of poems, flowers -- many gorgeous blooms, videos and other expressions of appreciation and love my beloved friends put together for me!

so again, for their pre-birthday and birthday eve lovely lovely posts, i want to thank: Annithyme, Tijo and Psychomama!!! i adore you all.

you MUST check out Tijo's birthday eve post if you haven't already. it is absolutely hilarious. i can't even describe it, so go there and bear witness.

and for my birthday posts, and please let me know if i've forgotten anyone, i want to give major shout outs and gratitude to:

Psychomama, Dvc Dickens, Shiral, ConnieMack, Tijo, Lisa Kern, Onecorgilover, Mary Joan Koch, Dharmabummer, Jane Smithie, Junk1, Brie, a wonderful sketch from the amazing Duaneart -- he got my big tits just right  and Natalie B. i apologize if i've missed anyone. please yell at me if i've been so inconsiderate.

i am so grateful to you all for making such creative efforts on my behalf. i am touched and heartwarmed in ways that i haven't been since my husband Richard died 6 years ago.

and thank you to all you wonderful people who came to these awesome posts and commented and said happy birthday and other things to me. you cannot ever know how much this meant and how much of an antidote it is to the past 6 years and especially this past, very challenging, year.

kindness is the antidote to grief, loss, sadness, loneliness and pain. i celebrate the wonder of kindness every day. thank you all for celebrating it with me yesterday!!