Beth had a pretty awesome birthday this weekend. I came pretty close to blowing it because I let her make most of the arrangements herself, and I hadn't really noted that 50 was feeling like a really big deal to her. But, I did make the reservations at the restaurant (which I had to go back and make for more people several times, because way more people than we were expecting kept confirming) and got her a nice big present from Warsaw Cut Glass (sealing kitchen canisters with the sunflower pattern) and a cool mug from MudLove for her from the kids, plus some cheap jewelry also from them that they actually picked out. She wanted a party at Yamato with all her friends there. Pretty much everyone we invited came, including Stephanie and Ric and Marve and all the families from Michigan, which was a surprise. We had an array of appetizers on the table, balloons, and a collection jar for Heifer. The kids all had their own table with the electronics going. Beth got to be social and eat sushi, what could be better? The family came by our home for a while before everyone had to take off, first time most of them have been there in quite a while, and we had some ice cream cake. So it was a pretty good birthday. Beth said she had a wonderful time.