Thanks everyone. This was a low-key birthday, which is how I like it. No cooking. That was the day before, my daughter made us a mahi mahi stir fry that was very good. She learned how to juggle two woks at once. Last night we went out to sushi, as that is daughter's new food passion. Then we browsed our favorite vintage/hipster clothing store. I've almost stopped buying clothes at regular retail stores; this store provides in retail-speak, an edited eclectic selection at remarkably cheap prices. I bought a like-new cotton-cashmere sweater from Club Monaco (a Ralph Lauren sub-brand) for $8 - hard to beat that, even if the horizontal stripes are not exactly slimming. Call it a challenge. We also poked around Powell's bookstore, where I checked out some books on 1980s BMW sedans. I am getting a slight hankering for a "new" car project, and I've always liked the late 1980s BMW 5-series sedans, the last of the boxy no-nonsense Teutonic Beemers. They are quick, solid, and great bargains as future classics. Plus I'm told a fellow who knows how to work on cars (that's me) and who likes to work on cars (that might or might not still be me) can transplant a V8 motor from a later BMW in place of the stock 220 hp six-cylinder M30 motor. We bought a magazine on 3D printing for my son. Home 3D printers are now as cheap as $500, and that would be a pretty interesting thing for us to play with. My favorite present was a cutting board that has gridlines and measurements for various cuts. Now I can judge exactly how thick to slice for medium dice (1/2"), batonnet (1/4"), julienne (1/8") and fine julienne (1/16") sticks and brunoise. Very useful for the OCD cook. My least favorite present for this b-day will be making an appointment for my first colonoscopy. Oh joy! The pleasures of entering my fifties. Actually I should have done this last year on my 50th b-day, but have been putting it off. The pastime currently occupying us is planning for daughter's impending start of college. She is now receiving her college admission and rejection letters, and we are going through the various dormitory choices and studying credit requirements for different degree programs. At this point she is most seriously considering either Fordham University in Manhattan, McGill University in Montreal, UC San Diego, or the Clark Honors College at University of Oregon. I'm quietly rooting for U of O, it seems perfect to me. The Honors College is a small liberal arts program with just 700 students and their own professors, counselors, building and housing, set in the big campus of a 30,000 student research university. 2 hours from home, far enough for her, not too far for me. It is eminently affordable if you pay in-state tuition. If she wants to get a single room with private bath, to spend five years in school doing multiple majors, to study abroad and take trips, we can do all that and she can still graduate with zero student debt. She likes the campus and the town, and already has some friends who started there last year. So, I hope she picks it. Fingers crossed! We went to the beach last weekend. The Oregon coast is gorgeous. I haven't been for a couple of years. My friend led us in making a huge sandsculpture (a dragon consuming a hilltop city) that, I'm told, made the local TV news. It was very relaxing, and made me think that perhaps I work too much. This post was edited by johnliu on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 10:32

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. Glenda....LOL. Well these family doctors sure don't want to treat you for anything....just send you off to specialists. He did give me a prescription for something to help with the nauseated feeling. He is sending me to a gastroenterologist and also to a pulmonary doctor. I had to call and make both of those appointments. Just what I need.....MORE doctors to see. Grrrrrr He thinks all of my problems stem from my smoking and wants me to cut way down and preferably quit smoking. I'm sure my smoking is part of the problem, but not sure it is "all" of the problem. I still think it is gastritis. Any way, I've called and got appointments in October with both of those other doctors. Oct. is going to be one busy doctor month. I see the pulmonary doctor Oct.2, my orthopedist on the 3rd, the gastro doctor on the 15th and my eye doctor on the 16th. I'm going to be glad when October is over! LOL Now to try my best to cut down on my ciggies after 50 some years. Grrrrrr

Hello! We took our kids to the Pittsburgh Symphony this morning and I get the afernoon off!! I thought I'd check in and see how the birthday party for DeeMarie was going! LOL Dee - I am so glad you liked everything. I smiled at the thought of you sitting in bed surrounded by presents!! What a great way to start off the day. I was hoping you wouldn't be mad at me for the chocolates, but I had wanted to include somthing chocolate to go along with the card (Maxine of course!). I picked Anderson's because it is local and unique to our area. I started out looking for a Michel Delacroix print for you and couldn't find one in my price range. Then I remembered that I'd seen designers take apart calendars for the art work and I went on a search for the calendar. I found it at www.calendars.com. It makes me so happy to hear that you want to frame the pictures!! The Wendell August plant is in Grove City, which is an hour from here and I took a tour of their facilities once. I was fascinated by the craftsmanship and attention to detail, and I love to give their items as gifts. One of my preschool Mom's started a business making and selling the soy candles and body basics. So I asked her to make me up a sample bag for you. I love the body cream! I hope the rest of your day everything you hoped for. NHSuzanne - I popped in this morning before I went to school and I saw your post asking whose birthday it was, but I thought you were kidding. LOL I used a Banner site that uses odd fonts to create her name gif and I saved the banner as a graphic. I know if your computer doesn't recognize a certain font, it won't show up but I thought I had it covered with the gif. I wonder if anyone else can't see Dee's name? And thank you for the compliment about my packages. I am going to Curves at 3 today. How is it going for you? Raeanne - Have a great time in NYC. I have only been there once and someday I would love to go back. (My real dream is to get nominated for What Not To Wear and go there with a $5,000 credit card in my name!!) LOL Gretchen - I would love to read your Jodi Picoult book when you are done. And I will send Harvesting the Heart your way when I am done with it. I love that we can help each other out this way! Has anyone emailed Joanne or KYSusie about the SS get together? We haven't heard from either of them lately and I wonder if KYSusie is reading the threads and how Joanne is feeling. Gotta grab some lunch before I head to Curves. I love these short days! Marci

Thanks you guys! We're doing well. Always busy, and always something going on. I'm still employed by a large company during a 5500 cutback. In fact, busier than ever. When I hear about all these companies cutting back, I count my blessings that I have a great job with good benefits. We have a Plan B for when the time comes, and I'm glad it doesn't have to be in the forefront of my mind. DH is almost a second year resident. He is finishing his intern year by spending a rotation with his dad. It has been a great month for both of them to spend time together. DH has a bedside manner very similar to his father's, and I'm glad that he's had the opportunity to spend more time watching him practice medicine. They are both wonderful, caring physicians, and I'm glad they are both a part of my life. In July, DH starts concentrating on neurology, and he's very excited to spend time learning more about his favorite area of medicine. Three more years to go until private practice. Jacob is five and a half, and has graduated from pre-K. He's spending the summer at a day camp, and has aged 2 years in the past 2 weeks. I think it's because he is surrounded by older kids. He's maturing, and I love watching him grow into a school aged kid now. I love the things that excite him and watching him interact with Tyler. He's always had some reflux problems, and they've been escalating lately (vomiting, breathing problems, and lots of pain). We are scheduled for an endoscopy soon, and hopefully we'll get some answers and a long term plan. He's a very, very smart kid, and always keeps me busy with questions and finding the answers. His recent interest is the weather, and each night we watch the radar, look at patterns, and discuss the conditions for a proper tornado. He starts kindergarten in the fall, and we are all very excited. Tyler just turned three, and has started outgrowing the baby feel that he's carried around for a while. Tyler is on the small side and his speech is slightly delayed, but a perfectly healthy three year old. He's cute as a button, but still felt baby-ish. Not that I mind; he's fun to snuggle with. With some speech therapy, he has blossomed. He is more intelligible, and now we are working on some language comprehension. Potty training is on the back burner, as I refuse to make it a battle. Potties and underwear are plentiful in our house when he decides to no longer use his pants :) He's adventurous and loves imitating his big brother. We've spent the summer going to the pool, participating in summer reading at the library, and taking day trips to smaller Indiana towns. We had planned to go to Destin, FL in July, but those plans are on hold pending the oil spill migration to that area. We'll either make last minute reservations or we'll head north to Lake Michigan. Sorry for the novel, but I thought an update was in order :) Thanks for the birthday wishes!