Hold your breath...this is a positive entry!!!

Today is my 23rd birthday! Not exactly anything to be excited about but I am alive and beginning my ascent into the world of the living again. It is thanks in large part to my bestest friend Joe. He decided to throw me a birthday party last Saturday.

The days leading up to the party were great. The night before Joe, Nichole, Sara and I all went to Meijer's to get some last minute stuff for the party. We ended up spending three hours there screwing around in the toy aisles.

On Saturday, Joe came and picked me up at my house so we could go to the park where my party was. After waiting several hours, guests started to show up. And then the fun began. The goody bags assembled the night before were a delight to one and all. Their contents: Ugly Lisa Frank pencils; plastic dinosaurs; army men; Pixie Stix; Air Heads and fortune cookies. The army men were soon surrounding the dinosaurs and pointing. But the dinosaurs would be avenged by the powdery, sugary Agent Orange poured on their heads.

Nichole made a very large, very fancy chocolate cake and even had my name on it. The grilled chicken (which looked like it wouldn't work considering the crappy hibachi style grills we had) turned out fantastic.

Then came a staple of all my birthday parties: the game involving an inflated ball. Often this manifests itself in the form of dodge ball, but this year it was kickball. This really made my day. Paper plates and plastic knives were used to form bases, teams were picked: Joe, Sara and myself against Jennifer, John and Nichole. The Frank team lost. But fun was had by all. My favorite part was how no one ran away when it started to pour. We had all psychically agreed to play through.

The party continued later at Joe's. Let me tell you honestly that this was the most fun I have had in years. It was like old times again, yet the whole evening was not spent reminiscing. Everyone was at ease, yet there was the usual biting banter. I invented "Skynergy" a mouth watering mix of Skyy Blue and Hansen's Energy. I will admit that I was quite toasty for a good part of the evening, but not nearly enough to be irritating (I hope).

A summary of gifts:

*a new olive green, canvas chain wallet from Sara

*a lab coat with my name embroidered on it from Joe and Nichole

*a Todd Oldham wooded cube drawer from Jennifer

*De Stijl from Tina

*a forty gig hard drive from Jay and Lori

All in all the party made me feel connected once again to people. I felt loved but not smothered. Thank you to everyone involved.

Love,

Kelly