Birthday Goodness :)

I turned 29 yesterday, and celebrated with a "Not Quite 30th Birthday Party" hehe. I won't be able to have the grand 30th shinding I was planning as I'll be celebrating my 30th in England, so I threw it a year early in a slightly less dramatic format. It was a great evening with lots of fun had by all.

Today I had lunch with various family members on Mum's side and had a nice convivial time.

These are some of the gifts I got:

A turquoise & silver pendant;
A pair of silver & amethyst earrings;
The Lonely Planet: Europe on a Shoestring;
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel;
A box of Toblerone Tinys;
A bottle of Brown Brothers Tawny Port;
An Australia to UK power point adaptor;
A shiny black passport cover with cute things embroidered in black on it;
A necklace of blue Venetian glass beads;
A £10 note (worth $20 Australian; the start of my first-day-in-the-UK currency collection!);
An unspecified amount donated to World Vision in my name; and
A digital photo frame (major present from Mum, the idea being that I can put up any photo anywhere once I'm in the UK).

I'm also getting a BeBook e-book reader (major present from Dad - can't do without books even when moving continents!) and a silver and amethyst pendant, both of which are still in the post. I'm looking forward to those late birthday presents!

I've had a lovely birthday and I feel very privileged to have such lovely friends and family :)

Birthday!

I started this blog when I was 25, and now I'm 28. Yeep!

I've been having a great day, too, despite having had to work. Dad came up for our Presentation Night yesterday, and stayed over. We stayed up until 1am talking, and then this morning he gave me a card with money in it before he left. Yay!

The staff got me a really nice present, too, which I got at lunchtime :D

And then when I went to the post office after school I received a card from my grandmother with scratch-and-win tickets in it, on which I won $20, and more importantly, a package from Murdoch University saying that I got into the course I applied to do! I'm so excited :D I can't wait to enrol! And what a fantastic birthday present!

I'm happy in a way I'm not really used to. I'm very excited over the course, but the happiness itself isn't hysterical, desperate happiness, but rather contentment and recognition that the good parts of life are good no matter what else is going on. This is somewhat new for me, and I'm enjoying it. Y hallo thar, inner peace!

I think I've lost more weight somehow, too :D