Now we are 28.

I'd totally decided to be tranquil about my birthday this year. No big deal, just let it be another day, you've had plenty of birthday attention over the years, I told myself. But apparently everyone else must have gotten a different memo, 'cause I was THOROUGHLY spoiled and/or lavished with attention on March 14, 2011. (And before-- and after.) And, let's be honest, I would sell souvenir-sized bits of my dignity on the street corner for a little attention, so I loved every minute of it.

It started out with a girls' weekend getaway trip to beautiful Twin Falls, Idaho! (Say that in a Rod Roddy voice.) My mama and sister and I ran away together for our first-ever girls-only vacation. We went to see Singing in the Rain in the historic Oakley Opera House, we ate delicious Thai food, we swam in the hotel swimming pool, we went to parks, we giggled. It was lovely.

Then, Abe's Nana sent me a butterfly birthday card containing a crisp, shiny $20 bill. I cannot tell you how much I love cash. It's like magic money that I don't have to account for in the budget. If I were Scrooge McDuck, I would make a swimming pool out of cash dollars and swim around in them every day.

But anyway, on the actual big day, my friend Pam showed up at the office with this beautiful bunny cake:

I had mentioned to her-- months earlier--that bunny cakes were something of a birthday tradition for me. And she remembered! And made a whole bunny cake! With butterfly cookies! Isn't it ADORABLE?

(Pam also made me an adorable recipe-holder magnet board thing for my kitchen, which she presented to me when we went out together with our husbands the following weekend.)

And then, flowers arrived!

These were sent by my brother Scott and his wife Amanda. The bouquet lasted for two good weeks.

My co-workers Brandy and Laura bought me this terrific hat. You can't tell, but it lights up. Doesn't get much hotter than that.

My co-workers BJ and Andrea did this to my car. The inside was LITTERED with confetti. Two vacuumings later, I'm still finding shiny little party hats. They did something very similar to me with silly string and confetti when I stood up to make an announcement at a company meeting that evening.

Throughout the day, I received phone calls, texts, and facebook messages. My brother Seth and his wife Karen gave me a gift subscription to a magazine. (It hasn't come yet, so I can't tell you what it is. It's a secret 'til it comes.)

My bosses, Tom and Michelle, gave me a couple of cute decorations for my home/desk and a gift card to Chiles, which Abe and I used to stretch our dating dollars that month.

When I arrived home that evening, Abe and Hillary and Briar presented me with--respectively--a bigger, more magical crockpot, princess fruit snacks, and a new electric hand mixer.

A few weeks later my sister-in-law Lara mailed a gorgeous dress that she had hand-tailored just for me, some fabulous dress gloves she had crafted out of crochet thread and satin, a card her children had made themselves, and a bevy of hand-made winter hats.

A few weeks after that, my mother-in-law found the perfect birthday card (it had a big peacock on the front--is she trying to say something about me?) and mailed it, along with another, blessed twenty dollar bill.

With that much attention to store in my canteen, I suppose I can keep my dignity in tact for at least another year.

Thanks to everyone who made my twenty-eighth birthday such a special and memorable one.

I feel very loved.