Last week the first card arrived – from “a secret admirer” no less! Only it wasn’t too much of a secret– the return address gave it away. Thank goodness. I would have been completely crazed by now… wondering.

Yesterday it was a phone call from friends in Florida wanting my physical address. The P.O. Box won’t do. And then they called back and said “it” would arrive on Tuesday.

I should have said, “No gifts, please.” And I did… but probably not very convincingly. Anyway, it sounded as though it was too late for that. Maybe I should have said, “If I can’t eat it or wear it, please don’t…” but I didn’t, of course. Whether you are turning 8 or 80 it’s just about the same – that excited feeling of anticipation.

I’ve determined to celebrate for a year. I just didn’t think the celebration would begin just yet! I’m not really ready. I’m just working on getting the house clean for guests – the dusting, the vacuuming, the silver-polishing. At this point in my life, I have to admit that I only clean when I’m expecting visitors. Sad but true. Fortunately (for the house) we entertain frequently…

Birthday celebrations – or at least the urge to have them – are probably part of our DNA. According to historynet.com, the first mention of a birthday party is in Genesis in the Old Testament – a mention that the Egyptian Pharaoh served by Joseph was celebrating his. On the other side of the world, the Chinese have been marking birthdays for thousands of years and in polytheist civilizations, birthdays were noted in conjunction with astrology.

So there you have it. We humans are definitely party animals! Lots of people talk about important differences between ourselves and the rest of the animal kingdom – our opposable thumbs or our superior intellectual prowess or, according to George Carlin, our ability to make plastic. I say it’s our capability to party, party, party!