"Four and below, take it down low. Five or above, give it a shove"

...Then I asked my students, what does 26 years old round to?

"Miss, you are closer to 30 than you are 20".

"Thank you for that," I replied.

What a good birthday with my Cairo amigos.  I was not expecting much of a night but when I walked into my favorite Thai restaurant 17 minutes late for our dinner date (weird, I was late, but I think it helped the surprise) I found 15 of my friends sitting at a table waiting to eat!  After dinner, the lights went out and the waiter passed candle sticks around to everyone as they brought out a HAWKEYE cake.  I sat back and thought; I am celebrating my 26th birthday with some pretty incredible people I have known for less than three months while slammin' down a Tigerhawk cake (per my favorite Canadian, Amanda) in Cairo, Egypt--  I don't know if I will ever experience this scenario again, but I am going to relish the unique moment for a while.

Year 26 will bring..

• Marathon #2 with my best friend: same distance, different continent
• Teacher turned Tour Guide: Feb, March, April, May & maybe more..
• More Red Wine
• Freedom
• Ragbrai with the Beavers
• Larger Book collection, new and old
• Mt. Kilimanjaro climb
• Eat Massamon Curry in Thailand
• Make new friends, visit old ones
• Emails with Gram Jo