My birthday was December 26th, but I’ve been treated to celebrations starting the 23rd and finally ending the night of the 27th.  A big year–maybe because it’s a big birthday: 65! 🙂

So here are a few photos, although none from the first celebration on the 23rd, when my friends from India, Juhi and Amol, took me to lunch at Mongolian BBQ Grill and to see the movie Passengers. We were also celebrating Amol’s new job, although a trifle sadly, because it means they must move soon to another city.

The meal was excellent, and we each gave the movie a 7 out of 10–good, but not great. We had wanted to see Rogue One, but someone had bought out the entire theater for that showing!  Juhi gave me some really nice gifts, as well. She also made this nice collage for my birthday:

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Here’s one of my favorite photos of Juhi and Amol, from September, on Amol’s birthday, when he took us out to Shish Kebab, a mostly-Turkish restaurant:

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Amol and Juhi

I basically made out like a bandit this birthday! Friends from far and wide sent me gifts. I was rather flabbergasted! 😛

On my actual birthday, my Turkish friend Yasemin and her husband, her three kids, along with her parents who were visiting from Turkey, took me out for brunch. I wore the red plaid corduroy shirt that was a birthday gift from my good friend Laurie from church, who lives in her motor home and has moved South for the winter.

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Me modeling my birthday shirt from Laurie

Here we are waiting to be seated while Yasemin’s husband checked in with the hostess:

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Yasemin’s Dad, her son Ahmet, her daughter Esma, Yasemin, me, Yasemin’s Mom

YahYah supervised from his carseat:

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Yasemin’s youngest son
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Yasemin’s husband and daughter Esma

 

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Ahmet takes a rest in the carseat sling. 🙂

I got more terrific gifts from Yasemin and her mom.

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Ahmet helps me open gifts

Last night was our family celebration, a combined belated Christmas-birthday thing. It was smaller than usual because my older son was out with a minor, but painful, neck injury, and my next-younger brother and his family were traveling in France.  But my youngest brother and his family, including his daughter in university and his son who is a senior in high school, came to Ohio from Connecticut to see his wife’s family as well as ours. We all had a nice dinner out at Max & Erma’s.

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My youngest brother Chris and his wife Missy
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My younger son Jason, my niece Kaleigh and my only nephew Ben

For birthday treats, we got a bunch of really good cookies at Max & Erma’s, but the Mongolian BBQ Grill won hands-down with their birthday treat, for our entire table, of deep-fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Yum!

After dinner at Max & Erma’s, we exchanged Christmas gifts, and then I got birthday presents on top of that!

Jason gave me some great gifts earlier in the evening at my house: he fixed my storm door and installed my TV antenna.  Now Ophelia can’t escape as easily, at least not out of the front door (!), and I can watch local news and weather and also PBS, which is public educational TV. Good stuff for a nerd like me! 🙂

Tonight I went to see Rogue One with a friend–I gave it a 9 out of 10, because I thought it started off slow. The sight of Carrie Fisher at the end, given her untimely death a couple of days ago, made me cry. 😦

May the Force be with you!