It's my birthday - and I have a Gypsy in my garage!

I have really enjoyed today - lots of great conversations through phone, cards, and email (yes, Hallmark marketing wonks, more cards than email), and special hugs from my two teenagers. No cake yet - but I figure I will make one for my family to enjoy tomorrow. I did have some celebratory mixed nuts, though.
I have been saving money since September to buy a bike, and did it this week. Of course, it happened to be the week that Omaha had The Great Blizzard of '07, but I firmly believe that good weather will happen again in time for me to start riding on the trails that snake through this town. I located a photo online of the bike (this store will probably be surprised at their web hit count this month!):
http://kensbikeski.com/itemdetails.cfm?catalogId=39&id=1746.
My teenage daughter was mortified that I wanted a bike with tassels, which made me all the more determined to buy it (ah, mother/daughter relations). I figure folks won't notice the tassels at all after they get to staring at my face shield... The bike is a total extravagance, costing more than my first car (a great '66 Dodge Dart, slant-6 engine that I could work on all by myself with Chilton manuals checked out of the public library), but meaning just as much to me now as when I was 17 in freedom and being able to answer the call of the open road (or at least the Keystone Trail). Knowing I have this beauty waiting for me when I get home from work, or from my next checkup (one week away, dang it), might just keep me from thinking too much - something folks around me have said I have been guilty of lately. For everyone reading this - thank you for making the past year more than just something to bear. And I wish for all of us a wonderful year to come.

I am going to Pluto!!!

That is not a euphemism for something else - I (ok, my image) am going to Pluto, due to land about 2015. I had submitted a photo of my last radiation treatment to The Planetary Society's call for New Horizons Time Capsule materials. Check me out under the People section on this page: http://planetary.org/explore/topics/time_capsule/selections.html . The photos will be up until March 31, 2007. I am going to Pluto!!
CORRECTION: I am NOT going to Pluto, nor will my picture go there. My picture will stay here on Earth in the time capsule, and when the craft reaches Pluto in 2015, it will send a signal that will open the time capsule at that time, and you will have another chance to see the photo. Pluto is involved, but my picture won't be going there. My wish is that I am here to see the photo again with you!