Birthday Wishes

So today is one of those millstone milestone birthdays. I am now 40, which I understand means that I am officially ancient. Not quite as old, mind you, as Joe, who turns 50 on Saturday, which I'm told is just past decrepitude (He's a huge attention whore, btw, so go say hi). Since I'm between nights on at work today, things will be low-key, but David is planning a surprise party for me on the 18th - the surprise, of course, being that I only know the date and none of the details. I wanted, though, to share a little (pre-)birthday surprise and a birthday wish.

Last night I had a visit from Phoebe!



Funnily enough, I was thinking about her just last week before I came home from India. She's doing great other than some significant arthritis in her left hip from the fractures, and she's scheduled for surgery to deal with that next month. Her owner is still going through issues of his own 15 months out and has only just graduated from an external fixator to a splint. All things considered, though, the family seems to be getting along well, and it is due in no small part to all of you readers who contributed to Phoebe's care.

Which is actually why I was thinking of her last week. While I was in Riwalsar, I met this lovely Tibetan couple:





That's Sonam Yutron and her husband Lobsang. Those of you who read Joy's and Nyondo's blogs will have already read about Sonam Yutron's medical problems. If you haven't, though, take a few minutes to go read this post, and I'll wait here for you.

All done? Do you see now why Phoebe came to mind? It's because all those little $5 and $10 donations really added up to something simultaneously tangible and transcendent. A latté here and a burger there actually changed people's lives. While I was in Riwalsar, Sonam Yutron was doing even more than leaning on someone else. She was out and about under her own power, puttering and sweeping and doing all sorts of little things she'd been completely incapable of for years until all these tiny little donations added up to something far greater than their sum.

Unfortunately, right now the Tso Pema Medical Emergency Fund is bust. What little has come in this year has already gone to help people in need. The Feral Wives have dipped heavily into their own pockets to keep things going for the people who really need their help and have had to be very selective about what they can and cannot help with. Obviously this is in no small part due to larger economic forces, but that doesn't mean the need has gone away, and clearly a lot can be accomplished with even small donations.

So my birthday request for all of you is to see if you can spare a venti mocha or two to help replenish the fund (Paypal button on Joy's blog). Even $5 can be enough to buy a few months worth of meds for someone, so it's not an insignificant amount. There's no tax deduction to be gained, but there's a very sweet elderly Tibetan couple, among many others, who will be eternally grateful and say prayers for you, which is really a far richer reward.

Another Birthday Alert

Today is Stephen's birthday. I'm sure he'll be gettin' some smooches from Janie Sparkles and the man, but be sure to go give him a little extra birthday lovin'.

Birthday Recap

It was really a very mellow day, in a good sort of way. I got up around 2 something, which is not an unusual getting up time for me (I was still kind of tired after 10 hours' sleep, though, so I'm thinking I need to cut back the Requip dose a bit). I walked downstairs to find David with balloons in his hand and a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. He'd slipped out while I was sleeping to get me a card, some dark chocolate, balloons and a cake, and I surprised him rather than the other way around. Tolo was pretty pleased with the balloons, too.



My inbox was full of birthday wishes. Thank you all (and a special thank you to Scout, who put a rush on some new sportweight sock yarn to me. I can hardly wait!). I did a whole lot of nothing for a few hours until I had to get ready to head to Portland, where my folks met up with us to take us to dinner. Since they're less familiar with Portland than I am and since they hadn't seen the new clinic, we met up there, where I gave them the tour and where the staff had cooked me up an extra special confection.



Then we went out to eat at the Sebago Brewing Company, since I'd never tried their beers before and was in the mood. I had the Hefeweizen with appetizers and the Boathouse Brown Ale with my wild mushroom ravioli and would recommend either. Yum. Then we all had some of the lemon creme & white chocolate cake that David had bought. Yum, again. Then we all headed home.

Non-Birthday Goodies

Today's mail brought a package from Schoolhouse Press containing this book:



This is part of the wedding planning, of course, as it's a given that I have to wear handknit kilt hose with my kilt (which is yet to be made, but will be in a Baird Modern tartan). I have a 1 pound cone of DK superwash that is destined for this purpose, which should give me plenty to practice with to sort out the design I want.

I'm also awaiting some shade cards from Two Swans Yarns for the Jamieson's Spindrift. I already have shade cards for the Jamieson & Smith yarns, but I want to knit a Fair Isle vest in mostly undyed wool with some accent colors that reflect the colors of the kilt tartan, and the Spindrift will allow me to do that all in one weight of yarn. It also looks as though I may find better color matches, and I like that Jamieson's processes their wool right in Shetland, instead of shipping it to a mill in England like J & S. My Shetland forebears were fishers and crofters, which means they struggled to scrape by while the fruits of their labors got shipped off to Scotland and England and made other people wealthy, so if more of my money as a consumer stays on the islands, I see it a bit as paying back their legacy.