OOPS!!! Sorry I didn't know that about Jan. 1 being "everybody's" birthday, if a specific date isn't given. Oh well, Happy Birthday, whenever it is. :>) Mwoods, your statement about each year bringing "joy, laughter, and some tears" is so true. None of us ever knows what's ahead for us. But, as my DH says, "It's been a trip, but I wouldn't change any of it!"

Thank you all, my dear, dear friends. Yesterday we had one of those days here at our house -- no water for 36 hours, Freya sneaking a pizza off the kitchen counter, and the smell of fresh polyurethane pervading the cold, damp house.... On the other hand, I had the loving affection of Tom and my DS Jacob, calls and cards from family, and greetings from all of you. And tonight we're going out to dinner to try celebrate again. Carla, Luanne, Jon, Anita, Lori, Ingrid, Sue, Carolina, Pamela, and Carol -- each one of your messages brought smiles and memories to my mind. I just realized that with the exception of Ingrid, I know each one of you in the Real World (as opposed to online) -- Ingrid, we'll just have to correct that soon. The only birthday wish I have left (besides more rain) is to hope that I get to see you all again as frequently and as soon as may be. Rosefolly

I hope each of you has a truly happy day. H a p p y B i r t h d a y ! Shirley

We have postponed sushi until tomorrow or Tuesday - we have had too much to do today. Last week, our refrigerator at the Salem house died, and I guess we did not notice until a couple of days later, as much of the food in the freezer had spoiled. Kevin ordered a new fridge from Home Depot because he had a 10% off coupon, and the Presidents' Day specials had been extended. Thursday, the solar panel company came to install the panels, and they were here on Friday until very late, and still did not finish, and so that had to come back on Saturday, which is the day that the refrigerator was going to be delivered at the other house, but fortunately not until 3 PM. After the solar panel company finished, we went to the other house to clean the floors as much as possible from the mess that the old fridge had made, and the delivery came a bit early, which was nice. I had salvaged a lot from the old fridge, as it had a lot of flours in the freezer, along with way more nuts than I realized, plus some yeast. None of that was going to go bad in two days, and so today we took back all of that plus some hard cheeses that I had vacuum sealed - mostly Parmesan, Grana Padana, and Romano, but I had them in a lot of separate small packages. By the time we got finished putting food into the new fridge, I was not in the mood to go out, but I am fine with having my birthday dinner a day or two late. Thanks for all of the kind and thoughtful wishes - this has really raised my spirits on this birthday, which otherwise could have been somewhat depressing!