Chinese new year

Well, I'm another year older. Or another day older, depending how you look at it! :-) I had a very nice birthday here in Lexington. I started my day with a solitary walk out to the Platte River. It's, oh, half a mile to a mile through the woods. I saw a couple of deer bounding away from my noise, and a hawk circled overhead, seemingly charting my progress. The river is flowing well, thanks to their recent rainfall, but that means it's about two feet deep instead of it's usual less-than-one. I waded across to a sandbar and spread out a towel, then spent a pleasant hour sunbathing and reading my novel. Oh, and Frank and the girls called to wish me a happy birthday.

Then I began my somewhat circuitous walk back to the house. What that means is, I got lost. At about the moment I realized I was pretty turned around, it started to rain, and I began imagining a long, wet ramble. But then it quit raining and I got my bearings. I came out of the woods only about 100 feet from where I went in. Not too shabby.

This evening, Cherie and Steve took their moms and me out for dinner at a little Chinese restaurant in town. I'm not sure how tiny Lexington ended up with a Chinese chef better than many in Seattle's International District, but they did. Cherie and Steve have sent a lot of business his way, so Sam set out to give us an evening to remember. He provided, gratis, an appetizer platter of mussels in cream sauce and an artful plate of oranges and sesame seed balls to accompany our birthday-cake dessert. Sam and his sons joined us for cake, and Sam entertained us with stories of his arrival in America (first in Seattle, then L.A.). He said he moved to Nebraska because he couldn't afford to pay property taxes and buy car insurance for four sons in Los Angeles.

The cake itself was a rare treat: Steve's specialty spice cake! That's said with a wink, since he had a little help from Betty Crocker, but the cake was truly delicious and I was touched that he baked for me. And Cherie surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of roses. It was a very fun birthday!

News from home: Thursday night, Frank and the girls went to the midnight showing of the new Pirates movie. Reviews were mixed. This morning, Chloe and MJ and the Canonica gang headed to Coulee. When I talked to my mom this evening, MJ was off helping a 5-year-old friend master his Sponge Bob XBox game, and Chloe was re-reading Fruits Basket books and laughing a lot. I could hear the sounds of the friendly/fierce poker game in the background. Mom said one cousin came in all the way from Montana to get in the game.

Meanwhile, Frank is having his weekend alone. I am sure he's enjoying every minute of it!