Turning 72 isn't at all bad!

What a lovely birthday I had! Started the day with a podiatrist appointment--okay, not so lovely, but he's a nice guy and assures me I'll lose the toenail I stubbed but the new one will gradually push it out. But went from there to Jordan's office where I sat and visited withs ome of her colleagues briefly and then we went to lunch at Patrizio's, long a favorite of mine in Highland Park Village. I'm delighted now that it's opened in FW. I had a great salad. Jordan wanted the fried warm goat cheese and I was tempted, but it's breaded so I passed. She said, "Please, it's your birthday!" and the waiter said, "No, leave her alone." (Good guy--I gave him a generous tip!) We did share a chocolate mousse but about three bites did me in--so rich.

They were replacing my furnace/a/c unit today, a most expensive birthday present I gave myself out of necessity. I would have preferred something less expensive and more frivolous, but we do what we have to. I came home to a really warm if not hot house, turned on the a/c in the guest house, and did a bit of work, got in a short nap in the guest house (which never did really cool down in that time). Then off to a reception at TCU Press which honored Dr. Dan Williams as the incoming director and me as the outgoing, plus made a big deal of my birthday, with balloons and a cake. Once gain, gluten in mind, I resisted the cake while urging others to eat it. It was double chocolate fudge and looked wonderful, but I figure if I'm going to try this gluten-free experiment, I have to be pretty wholehearted about it.
Came home again to a hot house--I am so grateful to Jason and Donald from Rhinefort & Co.. They put in a long hard day--Donald didn't leave until almost 8:30. But I didn't stay long--Jeannie, Betty and I celebrated our joint birthdays with dinner at Piola, an Italian restaurant, where I had really good veal piccata and risotto.
We came back to my now-cooling house, opened gifts, visited and had a good time.
These are roses that friends brought me earlier in the week--you know how some roses just sort of droop their heads and that's it? These have opened magnificantly and are simply beautiful. I so enjoy having them on my desk. (I tried to figure how to move this picture up to the front of the blog but couldn't handle it.)

One of the nicest things about my lovely day was the fun of having a birthday when  you're on Facebook--I got all kinds of nice greetings from a wide variety of friends--kept me busy answering them until I finally gave up tonight and issued a blanket thank-you. I'm exhausted, but in a happy kind of tired way. And I still have a family birthday party to look foward to the last weekend of the month. Jamie and Mel and Lisa emailed, Megan and Brandon and their boys sang happy birthday over the phone, and it was just a wonderful day.