have i told you lately that i love you?

seriously, people...just when i thought life couldn't get any better, i go ahead and have some of the best days possible. for some of you, reading this is probably pretty obnoxious, but there's no way to poop-coat (as opposed to sugar-coat, i guess) it. life is stinkin' good.

again, the good results from the mri have got me riding on the high-life vibes. and then friday morning rolled around and it was my bonafide beeerfday. and i got lots of fantastic wishes from my wonderful bloggie peeps and day-to-day peeps. and phone calls. and love. and then i got all dolled up (not really) and loaded up the kiddos and picked up my dad and we drove to newburyport. put joey in his new riding car and pushed him around. and ate the most fantastic food at the purple onion. black beans and lime juice and hot sauce. and shrooms. and watched the babes play at the park. and then i got a chance to shop solo for some birthday records. neil young and john denver and ravi shankar and someone else who escapes me at this moment. yes, i was born in the wrong decade. i just can't attach myself to current music. the ravi s. was a complete splurge (at a whopping $6- j/k!) but it was my day so i went with it. then i scored a beautiful sari-ish ensemble for gray at a used kiddie clothing shop for .79! life is good. of course, when i tried to put it on her (after my purchase, of course!) she got all dramatic and started flailing around, claiming it was the most itchiest and completely horrible piece of clothing ever. hrmph.

so after newburyportieness, we packed up again and moved ourselves on over to the beach for a photobooth session (a priceless one at that) and some pizza and some skee ball.

(notice me flashin' the 2 and 8- 28, baby!)

then home for some cleaning and centering and getting ready for my date with my husband! who came home early from work! with the kids picked up and whisked off for a night of fun with puppadd, john gave me the most bestest present ever- my record player! with a johnny cash album! so we hooked that baby up- and i'm not lying here- popped in the john denver album, whipped out the tambourine and maracas and rhythm sticks and danced like the dirtiest hippies this side of clark university. this little dance session was the best birthday gift i've ever gotten. then we headed off back to the beach for an oceanside dinner at brown's- fresh freakin' clams. dipped in a crapload of butter. and beer. life is good. then back to the photobooth for yet another set of pictures- our first set got eaten by the machine, and we had to take another set, which came out the balls. love them. back to the house for more record listening into the wee hours (read: 12 o'clock) of the night. bed.

next morning was gift finishing and getting everyone ready and leaving for a mini-roadtrip to jo and lib's shower- (getting reaaaaly lost and being late), socializing, working through social anxiety, the usual shower goodness. observing love. eating fancy delicious food. being envious of jo's rockin' rockstar dress. thanking my stars that i didn't bring the babes with me. on the way home, getting lost again, the stars aligned and i ended up at the living earth, my most favoritiest place in worcester- hippies and stinkiness galore (mama al, did you love this place, too?) rushed in long enough to sniff around and squirt myself with some zum zum pathouli lotion. holy crap- i want to make out with the creators of this lotion. i was a hippie stinkin' goddess for the rest of the day.

so this is my life. oh, wait! the packages. the stinkin' packages! angela from love green dog rocks my world. angela, thank you! thank you! pictures to come, although stuff has been used and loved already. and auntie stephie sent some bookie love, which i received last night. thank you! i'm going to call you in a bit to talk about the day and see what's up. also, my mom got me a pair of kickin' dr. scholl's, in red- and i was lucky enough to stumble across a picture of her from august of 1977 wearing the exact same shoes. now, if i can only find a way to adjust that damn impossible strap! i'll officially be transported back to 1970-something.