With a birthday that falls on or around Thanksgiving every years, I have never lacked for something to do. Typically, I am with family and/or friends as I was again this year. It happened that the Bag-n-Baggage  Christmas production of “Parfumerie” opened at the Venetian Theater on my birthday. My sister and I have been enjoying this acting company’s performances for over four years now, and they rarely disappoint. At first we had doubts about this particular play. The first hour was a bit of a drag, but it redeemed itself during the last hour. We were glad we didn’t leave in mid-performance.

The Venetian is an old movie theater that has been lovingly restored to include a fine restaurant open for lunch, happy hour and dinner.  Conveniently, the plays end just about the time happy hour begins.  Their happy hour is particularly good with more than just the usual $5 burger and fries. Two items – fried green beans and pickles and a killer hot artichoke-bleu cheese dip – are mainstays at each of our outings there. Drinks are cheap and poured without skimping.

This is where I spent my 73rd birthday and a wonderful day it was made more so by all of the birthday wishes I received from friends and family on Facebook. Having come late to the FB venue, I had no idea how important it would become to me. Did you know that the average age of a FB user in the U.S. is 40.5. There aren’t too many people my age using it, but I adopted technology long before many other people did. Of course, it has left me in the dust, but I can still manage FB. There is something warm and fuzzy about it. Friends old and new are never very far away. Children and grandchildren are particularly easy to keep track of.  It’s also hard to get lonely with all my “friends” on FB almost at my beck and call.

Still have some celebrating left to do – happy hour friends that I have not yet connected with. I can drag a birthday party out for weeks. I used to drag it out for months some 40 years ago. Now I settle for weeks. I also have a full line-up of movies scheduled that will entertain me at the drop of a hat or on $5 Tuesday, whichever comes first.

Yes, birthdays are such fun. I’m looking forward to many, many more.