There's no one who can doubt it now
I almost forgot. This year, for our birthdays (smplmn's and mine,) my mother helped the bandar log to bake cupcakes.

Last year we worked harder to birthdays while we were East, because of the trip being so unexpected and because it was so hard having smplmn's mother in the hospital that we were looking for any excuse. But this year I wasn't expecting anything, because our birthdays aren't until this weekend.

Saturday night my mother had the children to herself in order to carry out her nefarious plans. Baking happened while smplmn and I were innocently watching Model Man's sister get hitched. Sunday night we each got a chocolate-chocolate chip cupcake (the sine qua non of my growing years) with a candle in it.

A re-lighting candle. You know, one of those ones that you can't blow out?

smplmn was a good sport, and blew his out a few times before extinguishing it with water. I, on the other hand, determinedly blew and blew and blew, much to the bandar log's amusement, until I actually got the critter to go out. I'm stubborn.

And everyone sang, "Happy Birthday." It's not official yet, but everyone congratulate me -- I'm thirty-nine. For real, too, not a "thirty-nine over again"!