Through an unusual chain of events, Troy & I just spent our birthdays with our mamas!  Most of my family gathered at my sister Lori’s house in Wichita for the Easter weekend, and since Troy was overly busy with Hamlet and other commitments here in Fayetteville, Huck and I decided to join them for a very quick visit.  And how nice to be able to jump in the car and drive 4.5 hours like that!  Along with all the usual fun family festivities, Troy had secretly arranged for me to get 44 pig cards from friends all across the country, and this made me smile for a really long time.  And all through the day I received delightful picture texts from our NYC friend Amy who happened to be in our new town for the day without us.  After saying a quick hello to Troy downtown where he was promoting the Fayetteville Montessori School’s summer arts camp, she and her brood broke into our house and left behind lots of notes and love (and a few less Oreos), making my face hurt from all the smiling.

Meanwhile …

A few days later it was Troy’s turn to catch up to my age with the arrival of Nana and David!  With their help & several trips to Home Depot, our backyard is suddenly filled with beautiful flowers. They also came to Wednesday night church with us at St. Paul’s, Huck’s school book fair, and of course got to see Troy play King Claudius.

The only thing that makes a person feel older than turning 44 is watching the look on their mother’s face at the thought of having a 44 year old child.  Thanks, Mamas (and all the rest of you wonderful family & friends) for the birthday love!