Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #193 – They Say It’s Your Birthday

John from Journeys with Johnbo is asking us to celebrate birthdays this week for the Lens-Artists Challenge and in our household, March is birthday month. Both my husband and I have March birthdays, exactly two weeks apart. But this year our birthdays aren’t the important ones because near the end of the month, a new member of the family showed up, our first grandchild and grandson. So without further ado, let me introduce Ryland, naturally the cutest baby ever. 🙂 He’s almost two weeks old.

Since Dad loves to surf and they live only a few blocks from the beach, there’s a definite theme in all their baby clothes, books, etc. We’ll have to be sure to insert some other influences such as things with a Western theme or maybe Ohio State or Nebraska just to be sure he’s not one-sided. But you see here what we’re up against (and in this case, what he’s up against.) As you can imagine, we’re looking forward to our first visit to meet him in person in a few more weeks, the delay only because of my husband’s work schedule and the need to be around to finalize tax things. ❤

Just FYI, although I have a copyright on these shots, I didn’t take them, our daughter did. However, no one is allowed to use them for any reason, thus the copyright. Thanks.

Did you do something special?

I had a birthday last week and the day after, everyone who knew I’d had one, asked me,

“Did you do anything special?”

Weekly Photo Challenge: Atop…Humming along

It’s the Ides of March, the anniversary of the death of Julius Caesar and also my birthday, although the latter occurred more than a few years after Julius’ death!  Anyway, Joey asked me to mention my birthday here so that she could send me birthday wishes, so I heard (OK, read) and obeyed.  Here you go, Joey!

“Atop” is today’s theme, like the candles atop a birthday cake, (which I’m not having, although I’ll probably have a dark beer tonight from those my husband gave me as a gift.  Better than cake!)  Outside my parents’ Arizona home is a tree beloved by this little hummingbird, atop the branches in this photo.  He’s a colorful guy with a huge bill for dipping into flowers.

 

You say it’s your birthday.

You say it’s your birthday
Well it’s my birthday too–yeah
You say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have a good time
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to you.
–The Beatles

Friday was Bill’s birthday (and mine is coming up mid-month, making the song almost true), so we took time out of the day to have lunch together at Naf Naf, http://www.nafnafgrill.com/, a Mediterranean restaurant with the perfect mix of delicious food and fast service. Even with many people getting take-out, it can be difficult to find a table, but we managed.

Thank goodness for rugby!!

The first time I saw a rugby game in grad school, courtesy of an invitation by a British friend who was playing, I didn’t think there were many (perhaps any) rules. It appeared to me to be closely akin to throwing a ball out at recess in the middle of a bunch of first or second graders and saying, “Get it”, although hopefully at that level, the ensuing mayhem would be on a much milder level and sans the blood streaming down a face or two. Eventually I realized there were rules…but that the mayhem not only remained, but was rejoiced in, even when the “old boys” got together, creaking and groaning, to commiserate about the good old days and good old plays. (And believe you me, they remember every single one of those plays.)

Last year, our younger daughter and I gathered with other rugby fans at a nearby Irish pub, and with a draft or two of Guinness for me, to watch New Zealand’s All-Blacks defeat France 8-7, in New Zealand. We had a great time and there’s absolutely nothing in sports like watching the All Black’s perform the haka before a game:

However, the real reason I’m thankful for rugby is that years ago, I attended a game on a day where I had nothing else to do, in response to an invitation from a couple of friends who’d been helping me coach the boys’ soccer team at the high school at which I was teaching. And not too many post-games later at the local roadhouse, (now a much more upscale restaurant with glass-topped tables but no panache), a player looking for a spot to sit and eat his hamburgers in a room so filled that only a few seats were left at already-occupied tables, asked if he could sit with me, and that player eventually became my husband.

He doesn’t play rugby anymore (although he still remembers every play, injury and concussion), but today’s his birthday and I want to acknowledge that if it weren’t for rugby, I’d have missed out on the best person in my life! So here’s to rugby and happy birthday to my husband!  Ruck on.