I’m five days late blogging my own birthday. But one mustn’t place too much importance on these things. Suffice it to say it was a lovely birthday, complete with knitting with the girls (and we’ve named our little group – we’re Spiders! It’s Stephanie’s brilliant husband’s invention, because we all knit and we all met on the web. Heehee. So cute. Cute button TK.), Mexican food and mojitos with the girls, dessert with my own brilliant husband, and then a fun party at our apartment on Sunday:

If you look carefully, you can see Lisa and Amanda and Katie. You can also see my brother, grinning as he gets ready to take a picture of me scaling the woodpile to get this shot.

And don’t tell the fire department, but we grilled the tofu in the living room:

And Mingus, as always, was more interested in the wrappings than the presents. He was not at all ruffled to see fifteen people in his house and did his party tricks for everyone.

But the presents themselves were quite fabulous. Here, for instance, is proof that my husband is truly fabulous, and also not afraid to ask for directions in a yarn store:

That’s Noro Cash Iroha in a tasty raspberry color. It is singing the song of the Fiery Bolero if I can work out whether I have enough yardage for the modifications I have in mind. And the present parade wasn’t over: look what came yesterday!

It’s a box of Knitting Goodness from my Secret Pal in Nebraska! And boy does she have great taste. Four skeins of luscious Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino, and the first of the Barbara Walker Stitch Treasuries, which I’ve been dying to get my hands on. I had to sit down and look at all the pictures as soon as I opened it. And there’s no way she could have known how I’ve been coveting those adorable sheepy tape measures ever since I sent one to my own Secret Pal. I want to carry it around in my pocket as a little pet. A utilitarian little pet, though, unlike the miniature furry animals most New York ladies carry about in their purses. Hey, need to measure something? Let me whip out my sheep! I shall name him Shorn, in honor of Wallace & Gromit. Thanks, Secret Pal! You rock!