Birthday Bash

Yesterday, August 6, was my birthday. I turned 61. Last year on my sixtieth, I bought our new house. It's been an incredible year. During the day, I received several email greetings and nearly 60 Facebook greetings for my birthday. I love Facebook! It was amazing to get greetings from so many friends. Mark gave me a beautiful card in the morning and a Mickey Mouse head shaped salt grinder that matched the pepper mill we already had at home. Now I have the complete set, so I'm happy! Evey sent me a FB greeting, and Lowell called me on the phone. I was very, very happy.

This year I spent my birthday at Temple Beth-El in Charlotte, NC at a big family simcha. Mark's first cousin Lisa and her husband Allen have two children close in age, Steven and Ariel. They had a b'nei mitzvah yesterday, followed by a wonderful reception. I joked with her that it was wonderful of them to throw me such a great birthday bash.

The kids did a great job leading services. Mark was asked to lift, then I tied the Torah. We felt very honored. Most of Mark's family attended, so we had a wonderful time hanging out all day with his family. We were all staying at the same hotel, so sandwich platters, salads, and cookie trays were ordered around 7 p.m. so we could all have dinner together. The Residence Inn in Charlotte was very accommodating and let us have the breakfast area for our "dinner party."

This morning we will have breakfast in the hotel early. We might even run into the family members again since a lot of us are driving out at similar times. Mark and I want to get on the road by 8 a.m. since it's an 11 hour drive. When we get home, we have to unpack, run the washer, repack, try to catch a few hours of sleep, and be ready for the car service that is picking us up at 3 a.m. to take us to the airport. We are catching a 5:30 a.m. flight to Sacramento for our two and a half week vacation on the west coast.

I'm taking my laptop on the California trip, so there will be blogs and pictures periodically. I can't promise it every day, but I can't stay away from the blog for too long. I get crazy.

Picture captions from top to bottom:
1. Allan Silverstein and Mark Silverstein chilling out by the hotel pool in the evening. Allan and Mark's dads were brothers (Leonard and Sheldon).
2. Mark, Aunt Flor (Allan's mom), and Valli (Allan's wife).
3. The candlelighting ceremony: Steven and Ariel with their parents, Allen and Lisa (Mark's cousin).
4. Valli, Nancy (Allan's sister), and Mindy (Robert's wife, Robert is also Mark's cousin, the b'nei mitzvah mom's brother).
5. Mark with his Uncle Pinky, grandfather to the b'nei mitzvah kids.
6. Me and Mark dancing at the reception.
7. Me and Mark at the table.
8. Mark with his Aunt Esther (Pinky's wife, grandmother to cousin Lisa). Esther was Mark's father's sister. She looks so great in this picture. I told her she looks younger than me!
9. Mark and me with his cousin Lisa, the mom of Ariel and Steven.
10. The "boys": Allan Silverstein, Mark Silverstein, and Robert Spergel. They are three sons of three siblings: Flor and Sheldon Silverstein, Bernice and Leonard Silverstein, and Esther Silverstein Spergel and Pinky Spergel.