"How many now?"

My birthday was awesome. Even though I was sick. (I managed to catch a head cold) I had a great day. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. It was the icing on my birthday cake.
So here is a run down. When I woke up I was still debating if I was going to work or not. I felt awful. I was coughing and sneezing and I had a sore throat. Technically, I should probably have called Dr. Ahmed because it was a low count week, but I was afraid he would make me come in, and I refused to spend my birthday at the doctor's office...or worse in the hospital. Anyway, I'm not feeling well, but I get up to go shower anyway, and when I look out the front window what do I see? The entire driveway lined in balloons. I went outside to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and there is a giant card on my car from the Roglers and the Weissleders. (So a specially thanks goes out to them ...and Ally and Tori who got out of bed a 5 to come and decorate).
After running back inside and waking up my mother to show her, I got my camera and snapped some pictures for the blog. At this point I decide to not go to work. Instead I run downstairs and log on to the blog to update. But low and behold, my blog was already updated. Katrina had posted a really cute picture of my when I was younger. I do look very excited about something. I think that might have been Disney World. I added my pictures on to the bottom of her update. And then I took some Tylenol Cold and went back to bed for an hour or so.
I felt much better later, and I had a nice and calm morning. I watched a rerun of the Daily Show. Then I checked the blog again. It was amazing. I had 60+ comments. All of them Happy Birthday messages. It took 3 minutes just to read through them, and by the time I was done there were 6 more.
Which led directly to the game for the day..."How many comments are there now?". Every half hour or so, I would start to guess how many comments were on the blog and then check to see if I was right. ...It's a really entertaining game.
As most of you know, mom had gotten me tickets to the Daily Show as part of my birthday present. This was the third time we went. There were 8 tickets so it was Mom and Dad, Katrina and Chuck, Carol, Marta and Steve (who were Daily Show newbies) and myself. Marta decided to work from the city on Wedensday, but everyone else was meeting at the house a 2:00 to head down.
As we were waiting for everyone, I was playing "How many comments are there now?" in my head. But to show how much the sisters are alike, both Carol and Katrina came in and the first question they each asked was, "How many are there now?"
It got even worse when we got inthe car and Steve let us know he was checking the blog from his phone. From that point on, we all played with frequent updates and Steve forced to read them all out loud.
When we got to the show, Katrina and I hopped out and everyone else went to park the car. Terri was, luckily enough, right outside the building, so Katrina and I got to be moved inside. That's right ...we're not just VIP, we are VVIP. My entire family came in and as we were wiating for Marta to show, Carol takes out a shiny "Happy Birthday" sash. ..and a purple boa ...and a pink cowboy hat with rhinestones. Terri took one look at all of this and then said, "That's f*&%ed up." And it was.. it truly was.
However, it was also pay back for Carol's 40th birthday. That's right. We made Carol wear this same getup in cape cod and she saved it all for this occasion. (No one hold a grudge quite like a bauerlein). After I was fully outfitted, Terri had a special treat for me. I got to go backstage and into the offices. And everyone was wishing me a happy birthday. (I wonder how they could tell) It was pretty cool. When she pointed out a closed door and told me it was Jon Stewarts office, I had to stop myself from walking up and knocking.
Later on, after Marta go there, Chuck openned up a bottle of sparkling cider. We toasted to me of course, and then it was time for another round of "How many now?"The show was awsome, and when we were done Jon came over and spoke with me again. Katrina and I told him about our version of Hurricane Katrina and the new plan for the stem cell transplant. It was pretty cool. (That's right...Jon Stewart knows who I am..sort of)
Afterwards we went to Charlie Browns for dinner and I got my presents. (An ipod from my parent and itrip from marta and steve.) Then it was back home for some sleep since I was exhausted. And of course to finish out the evening, were pulling up to the house and played one final round of "How many now?"