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It’s my birthday and I’ll ::**::dance, sing, shout, eat cake, accept jobs::**:: if I want to!

Yes another year.

At tonight’s NYQuilts! monthly meeting, I was surprised with a wonderful cake from the Vanilla Bean bakery. One work – YUM. And some prezzies from Pat, Sue and of course Mom and Dad.

Even got sung to.

All in all not as bad a night as I’d worried about. People were reasonable, jolly at times, friendly to each other, and listened to the important news of the day.

The raffle quilt was well received. Pat did a great job making it out of what we had. And the quilting’s more than not bad too, LOL (Mary Beth pats self on back)

For those of you who are really into celebrations – you can sing along with the Birthday dirge – it’s one of my favorites! And yes you DO know the tune.

At dance camp, if it’s one’s birthday, hopefully your friends or SO will tip off the rest of the camp, arrange for a cake or at least a candle for your dessert etc. When the announcements are made, the birthday person is announced as well and everyone sings Happy Birthday in like 8 part harmony. They then sing:

Why was she(he) born so beautiful? Why was she born at all?
She’s no bloody use to anyone. She’s no bloody use at all!

and this is normally followed by the Birthday dirge. Now this is sung to the tune of the Volga Boatman (yes you DO know that tune) and where you’d put the UNNHH, grunting noise, at camp everyone slams a fist on the table. Well! The sound of 100-120 people slamming a fist on a bunch of wooden tables, on a wood floor in an open-air dining room is NOT to be missed.

So happy birthday to me. It’s been a year of unemployment, but really a wonderful year in terms of my quilting and getting back to photography (in a digital way), getting the grant (yeah – they think I’m an ARTIST!). Yes, some bad stuff too (sucky, weasely bosses, no income….. On the other hand, being home meant not catching stuff from co-workers too stupid to stay home when they’re sick! On the other hand, I miss vacation.

I’m not twenty. I’m not even 30. I’m past 40. And I wouldn’t go back. So yes, happy birthday and another year ahead for me!