So, another birthday has come and gone. This year, however, I can say, for the first time in a few years, that I am happy. Not only that, but I was happy. The whole week leading up to my birthday, and my birthday itself. It was a very nice feeling. I didn't have any of my usual "Oh god, I'm getting older, I'm lost, what am I doing?!?!" freak-outs. The one time I though one was coming on, I firmly told myself to knock it off, and it went away.

I thank Pita for this almost entirely. Aside from simply being the most wonderful woman in the world, she made it her mission to get people together for my birthday. When we canceled our original plans to go to Disneyland, I had no idea that she was going to go to such lengths to make sure I didn't get bummed out over plans falling through. Not only did she get a group of my friends together for Saturday, she even turned it into a successful group outing to...Disneyland! After our original plans fell through, she e-mailed a bunch of our friends and gave people a list of options for my birthday. I knew she was planning something, but I couldn't think of what I wanted to do, so I told her to surprise me. When I found out we were going to Disneyland after all, I nearly cried, I was so overwhelmed. I can't begin to describe how much joy this woman brings me.

Friday after work we headed off to Rob and Jen's for D&D. We didn't get a lot of gaming in, but we had an alright time, and they supplied sugar-free/no sugar added pies for the birthday pig-out. It was a good night, and we got to spend time with them and visit with Gabriel, their baby boy. After the D&D session, Pita and I came home for a short night of sleep before our long day was to start. We got up bright and early, woke up our friend Liz (who stayed over), and gathered up our stuff, Liz, and my brother Ben(who lives with us) to hit the road. We picked up Carrie, and headed down to the park. What a day! We got there around 9 AM, and had no trouble getting into the park(The nice thing about getting there after opening is that the lines die down). We hit Disneyland first(as we all had park-hopper passes), and made pretty good progress. Aside from the Matterhorn(which was closed) and the storybook rides in Fantasyland, we hit pretty much every ride we wanted to by around 3 or so. We took a break, and then headed in to California Adventure, where we met up with Bryce, Julia and their munchkin, Jordan. I don't know, I'm not sure if that baby smiles enough! *grin* We wandered the park, hitting a few rides(like Tower of Terror, which I finally got to ride!), and generally enjoying each others company.

We stayed in CA Adventure until closing, and then said goodnight to Bryce and Julia(and Jordan!) so we could head through Downtown Disney and do a bit of shopping. I didn't find too much, although I did use some birthday cash to get a Lego set, and Carrie picked one up for me as well. We finally got out of the parking lot around 10:30 or 11, and headed home.

The only dumb thing I did was to forget to check, and charge, my phone the night before. So, unfortunately, my phone died during the early afternoon, which meant I missed my birthday call from Anna. But there were no other mishaps to speak of, and I think we all had fun, pretty much all day!

Sunday was pretty quiet, consisting of us sleeping in, running errands, and farting around a few stores looking for ways that I could waste a little more money. We failed at that last endeavor, but I'm sure other opportunities will present themselves. So, today, I am back at work, and extremely grateful to my friends for a wonderful birthday. It was the best in years, and I can honestly say I'm looking forward to the big 3-0 next year!