Happy Birthday to me!

Family is a wonderful thing. Mine met me at the door after work today to say Happy Birthday and to herd me away from the dining room, where they were guarding a rather large box...










and onto the deck, where a nice glass of wine, a little brie, and a grill-full-o-steaks awaited. (That's the new grill from Fathers' Day, by the way.) For desert, an ice cream cake from Cold Stone:


A stack of funny cards later, and at last The Box. They knew it would drive me crazy, wondering what something that big could be.

Turns out it's a Canon PIXMA, which prints photos, makes copies, scans, faxes and probably makes coffee and takes out the trash.


I always said I wanted a copier, and more recently said I'd like a scanner, and it seems the guys were listening. Which is, of course, the best gift of all.

But wait! There's more! Tomorrow we're going out to the local botanical garden, which has recently brought in butterflies by the hundreds. Is this a great birthday, or what?