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My sisters drove down here for my birthday and went out to eat with Bekah, Josh, and me. We had such a good time. Laughed a lot, made friends with the table next to us, and ate lots of birthday cake. One thing we realized a little too late was our lack of birthday candles. That problem was quickly solved when I remembered that, thanks to Ben Johnson, I had a book of matches in my purse. (See "No Candles" picture.) After dinner, Hadley and Mallory headed back to Goldsboro and the Asselins and I headed home. We ended up just sitting on the deck hanging out, and when the bugs got to be too much, we moved the party to the living room where the doing a whole lot of nothing continued. Also, since I am now a "crackberry" user, I not only recieve texts on my phone, but also e-mails and facebook. Needless to say, between the 3 of those things, plus the occasional phone call, my phone battery (which was freshly charged) was dead by the end of the day. At one point, I thought I might have to have it surgically removed from my hand. It did make me feel loved, so I'd say it was a pretty dang good birthday. Plus, the celebrating continues on Friday night with the real party. I think the e-vite Bekah sent out said something like "Let's celebrate Mary Clyde's birth and be mean to her because she's leaving." I've got great friends.