I am so grateful...

...for my friends and family, who have gone so far out of their way to ensure that Stuart's birthday is special. He received so many wonderful gifts and cards. And we had a lovely birthday dinner out tonight with Erin, Jennie, Steve and Carolyn. And I feel so lucky to have friends that treat my husband so well, which I think might have more to do with his absolute goodness than their devotion to me, but all the same it's so important to me.

... and to Stuart, who has just shared a third birthday with me. We spent the first in England, where I baked a cake that exploded in the oven. The second was in Thailand atop the Porn Ping Hotel, where I bought a cake with a monkey on it from the grocery store. I baked cupcakes this year, which almost proceeded without incident, until I didn't have time to let the last batch cool and threw them all in the container, and they all got mushed and mangled, and I gave away the only one that wasn't to a homeless man with one leg. He liked it though, and so did our friends. And I promise to bake a cake from scratch for you every year for always.

(Today we bought winter boots. The upside is that they were 2 for 1. The downside of course being that we now have the same boots.)