Yes!

happy Birthday little Akiko Mei! Welcome to the world and welcome to my birthday! (Thas right, baby, yet another fantastic girl child born on the 23rd! Whoo hoo! Congrats, DB -- yer a star (even though I know you didn't actually DO anything....!)

k. so, back to the primary reason for this particular post which is to say happy B-day to my favorite book-mark buddies the fantastic Mizz Tail and the always effervescent Mz. ERG (22nd and 24th respectively) as well as to give myself the proverbial pat on the back for having the foresight to surround myself with the kinds of friends/kids/marital companions that make birthdays GREAT! Seriously. 43 never felt so good! I'm going to upload the comic as soon as i get it scanned in just so everyone is specifically aware of how very extraordinarily lucky i am!