If having a birthday gives people an excuse to shower a little love and affection on me, I think I can tolerate having one every year or so. Being on the receiving end requires no initiative and little energy from me, so it plays right into my lifestyle. And love? I’m all about the love, baby.

Most of the love I got today was of the long distance variety. I did have coffee and conversation with a friend this morning. It was fun, and it saved me from a birthday of total isolation.

Unfortunately, they were out of decaf at the coffee house, and I had my first caffeine infusion in over a month. I think it helped me stay awake for the first couple of hours of the afternoon session, but it didn’t really have any long term effect. I woke up groggy and spent most of the day with my eyelids at half staff.

But hey. I heard from people all over the family and all over the country (and for that matter, a couple of distant corners of this tiny planet). True, Aiden has a few more fans than I do, but I’m not the least bit jealous. He has a lot of years to catch up with the joy he and his sisters and his cousins and his aunts have given me over a lifetime.

Sorry. Sometimes I channel Gilbert and Sullivan. Especially when I’m groggy.

Aiden gets plenty of love and affection every day of the year. He also has his very first birthday coming up in less than two months, so he doesn’t really need a share of mine. But I offer it willingly. I’ll gladly bask in his rosy glow.