I got some really lovely birthday gifts this year. The icon hanging above the mantle I got from Will, though quite early, was still a great gift. My parents gave me a really pretty, fine necklace - a butterfly with filagreed hearts in the wings.

But Theresa gave me what really has to be the best birthday present EVER! It was so perfect, so well thought out, so splendid that words cannot describe it. It is a life sized, hand made, paper mache and glitter flamingo.

No, I am not making this up.

It's absolutely awesome. It must have taken forever to make, and the details of the feathers are fabulous. Theresa is really talented artist. But the best thing is having a friend who knows you well enough to know that you'd LIKE a life sized paper mache and glitter flamingo, and goes to the trouble to make one! That's priceless.