Ah, yes, it’s that time of year again. Following the two big end-of year holidays comes the twelfth day of Christmas, otherwise known as my birthday. My birthday festivities, such as they are, started with my phone buzzing with a text message of “Happy Birthday!” from Cathy as the clock struck midnight. I then spent the first half hour of my 24th year playing Scrabble online with DJ and two of her friends. (I lost and she won, as usual.) For those who don’t know, I work with Cathy and her family in running the sound system at church. She’s the only one who’s made a big deal out of my birthday this year. She even mentioned it on the music schedule for this month, since it fell on a Sunday (as did my zeroth birthday). When I walked in the door, she burst into song: “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Tim-please-forgive-me-for-putting-your-photo-on-the-service-schedule, happy birthday to you!” Sure enough, when I arrived at the sound table the service schedule was sitting in its customary place, conspicuously displaying my Facebook profile picture and reading, “Happy Birthday, Tim!” Pastor also called for a singing of the customary song: “We should sing, right? He’s the sound guy. He can turn me off any time he wants.”
I know it doesn’t sound very celebratory to have leftover pizza for one’s birthday dinner, but it made the most logistical sense. We traditionally go out to Pizza Hut on New Year’s evening, but this year we were invited to the Fasoldts’ house. We therefore combined that tradition with our Saturday night customs and with my birthday, and went out for pizza last night. Half of it we had for lunch today, followed by cake.
Through a combination of ideas from my sister, my dad, and I, she made a cake in the form of my TJP initial monogram. I directed her as to how to make the shape out of one square and circle cake each. She decorated it in an imitation of an item I once made out of those melting bead things. (I had discovered that it fits perfectly in the heart-shaped templates we had.)
When people ask me what I want for presents, all I can think of to tell them are some assorted gadgets I’d find useful. My parents didn’t want to try to get any of the things I mentioned and risk messing it up, so they gave me $20 bills concealed within the wrappers of big candy bars. That and two cards was all I got gift-wise, so now it’s off to the web to pick out my own presents. 
And in other news, my goatee has its 1st birthday today.
Happy birthday, goatee!
Oh, and to you to Tim (: