Happy birthday to me :)
A year ago yesterday, Babel presented me with this website 
I must say that it was one of the biggest surprises of my life, and it’s taken me most of the year to get over it! Yesterday was once again my birthday, and so my website is a year old and I am a rather shocking quarter of a century 
I wasn’t terribly excited in advance, but ultimately I had a lovely day I started with a nice birthday lie in, and got up to the surprise that there were balloons in the living room! My family had all bought me some really nice presents. My sister gave me three different German books, beautifully tied up with a ribbon, as well as a pretty holder for tickets, bus passes and the like. My aunt bought me a top which has a bit of a tendency to look green but which I shall try to convince myself is blue. My parents bought me smart pair of leather gloves, which I was very grateful for, currently being gloveless as I appear to have lost half of my normal pair in circumstances unknown. They also bought me a toiletries bag, again something I was very grateful for as the zip in my current one has broken. When I opened that, my mother suggested that I take the bubble-wrap out of it to see how big it was inside. I dutifully did so, vaguely noticing in the process that there was something brown inside it and that this felt rather heavy for bubble-wrap, but I assumed it was just brown paper or the like. In the end my family had to incite me to look at it more closely, and when I did so I realised that hidden inside it was the most gorgeous little wooden duck you ever did see Her name is Arabella, and I will endeavour to include a picture at some point in the near future!
My great aunt and uncle came to visit just as I was washing my hair. They had bought me another pair of gloves, this time suedey, as well as a leather handbag, which despite the fact that I am not at all a handbag person, I think will come in very useful because it’s quite similar to the bag I have at the moment, just slightly bigger. This is a definite advantage because it means I am able to fit both my umbrella and my purse in it at the same time
All that remained then was to await the arrival of Babel. I had absolutely no idea what he could have bought me, so I was rather intrigued. I was already absolutely over the moon, because he had posted in the forum the solution to a spreadsheet problem which I had been wrestling with for months on end It might have seemed like the day couldn’t get much better than that, but it did as I proceeded to be absolutely overwhelmed with presents! First of all he presented me with two Sherlock Holmes dvds, which would have been enough of a present on their own. Then he gave me two delightful little photo frames in the shape of ducks, and a third present on behalf of his sister, which was a fascinating-looking book about Euler. The biggest present was saved until last, and I was absolutely astounded when it transpired that he had bought me… a digital camera!!!!!!!!!
I’m still getting over the shock now really, as there was no way I expected him to get such a big present. It’s going to be sooooo useful though – we’re always complaining when we’re at Esperanto events and the like that we don’t have a proper camera to take pictures with, and at best end up taking the odd photo on our phones. Having a digital camera is going to be really, really cool… although it does look a little complex so I was glad Babel helped me out with putting the batteries in, etc. Today is going to be spent reading the instructions
Babel also helped me out with another dilemma, for which I am also exceptionally grateful, and now I am most definitely going to the IS after Christmas. For that, and everything else, I don’t really know how to say thank you 
We had a lovely day after that as well – we drove to Stratford and had a very nice meal in an Italian restaurant, which included a rather delicious tiramisu, and afterwards we had a coffee and a little look around The Works before heading back home…
My birthday definitely surpassed my expectations, and Babel is officially amazing 
Now all I have to worry about is whether he is going to like the birthday present I’ve bought him
November 30th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
No need to; you already did it enough yesterday, and it was worth it to see the customary look of slow recognition on your face.
I have every confidence that I’ll like it
November 30th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
What do you mean, the ‘customary look of slow recognition’?! How rude
I’m not 100% sure. But if you don’t want it, you must say and then you can sell it on ebay and use the money to buy something you do want
December 4th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
So, are we going to see any photos of these presents? Well, except for the camera, obviously
December 4th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
We won’t be seeing any photos for the foreseeable future because I’ve not been able to install the software on the computer. I’m going to try and see if I can make an appointment to have a play with it this weekend, but won’t necessarily be in luck.
I did wonder if I could put the software on a memory stick, but I figured it’s the sort of thing that needs to go on a hard drive.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Just to tell your sister to get off the computer for half an hour!
She’s not the kind to feel aggrieved anyway, and she’s fair enough to understand that you can’t make proper use of your present without installing the program first.