I've aged a year...

...since the last time I wrote! Ha! (And, no, it wasn't all the traveling around that aged me---I just passed that year mark...again). I can not remember a nicer birthday. Given all the time constraints for getting in my Fall/Winter orders in at work, I had to work on my birthday. That said, the folks that are dear to my heart---(almost all, missing my Minnesota "heart" folks), live in this work zone. So I spent my working time catching up and visiting with friends, and celebrating my birthday a million times at each shop...

But it gets better. On Valentine's Day (day before my birthday), my San Diego brother was in town doing some training for his work...and my San Francisco brother decided to join in on the fun and we all gathered at my California Mom & Dad's house for dinner. But wait. It gets better. As we all were visiting in the livingroom, Layne shows up. And to make it perfect, Mike and Sydney rolled in just in time for dinner!

I get confused separating the days---but Dad made a feast of Ahi Tuna, Mojito Salmon, mango salad, and a fresh Sour Dough Rye bread...topped off with some carrot cake and a fruity light pie for dessert. Afterwards, my husband brought down a BIG box for an old Apple monitor and said, "Happy Birthday Sweetie!". He added that everyone chipped in---all the way from Minnesota. "Shake it! Can you guess what it is?" I honestly had NO IDEA.

Imagine my surprise when inside the box was a brand new, 8-piece Campy Record Gruppo! In my wildest dreams, I never imagined such a gift. The bigger present is he used his bonus for the purchase. I am speechless still. For you non-bike people, this is the "top of the line, it doesn't get better than this" component group for a bicycle!

Top that off with two good rides up Mount Hamilton on the weekend ( with my husband on Sunday) and this was a very happy time.

So---even though it was another busy 10 days of driving all over the place, it is a birthday I will never forget. And, I actually got to see many of you people on this list.

Special Birthdays...

This weekend has been a perfect riding weekend. So ride we did! Lots of miles, up and down the lovely Sierra's. It is absolutely beautiful. Crisp but not at all cold. I am leaving for the Bay Area tomorrow for a couple of days before we head to Vegas, next weekend. Sigh. I love San Francisco though so it a treat of a trip to have to go there to work. And I get to see my brother and Jason (who just returned from Argentina).

Some extra special things about today? Happy Birthday to Daniel Mehler and Sydney Taylor! Daniel is (oh my gosh!) 14 and Sydney is (oh my gosh again!) 9. Hope you had as lovely a weekend outside as we did!

Have a great week!