ABOVE the 45th: "happee birthdae, harry"

I won't pretend the conversations we have are always appropriate.

Nor will I alude to them being even remotely tame.

I will say however that when you have three people with birthdays all falling within a week of one another, in September (month nine - you do the math) the propensity for the conversation to take a nosedive in the tact department is extremely high.

Let's just say, for the sake of reserving some class on this blog, that more than one joke was made about our parents having either a very Merry Christmas or a New Year's Rockin' Eve.

Thankfully my parents got off easy in this conversation.

Shamoo's dad was given a hearty "Atta boy!" from Dean (that's putting it nicely... I'm too much of a lady - and love Shamoo's mom too much - to write what he really said) and I don't think Michull's mom would love that we all know her ginger baby's birth story in the detail that we do.

Having said all that...

We know how to celebrate birthdays 'round these parts.

On this occasion, it was Shamoo's actual birthday (September 6).

Michull and I just mooched off the amazing meal Dean prepared and pretended it was the 11th and 4th respectively.

He's so pretty.

Robin and Maggie workin' the same pose... The camera loves them.

Oh, hello Oktoberfest, welcome back.

Dean made "Clint Eastwoods" for dinner.

Cube steak, lots of black pepper, spicy cheese, jalapeños, barbecue sauce, tomato and sourdough toast. I might be forgetting (or adding) something in there, I can't remember.

In any case I accept whatever it was he fed me.

(note: use caution when eating - tendency to scowl and direct award-winning films may result from consuming this meal)

Now I'm a spice-wimp. While I have yet to have a drool-inducing, preemptive chapstick-application standoff with a spicy food (::cough:: Jared ::cough::), I do enjoy a little kick here and there. In this case however, the extra hot barbecue sauce was enough for me so Dean made me a "Lairen Portion" and nixed the jalapeños.

A good call because the other five were coming up just short of pouring ranch dressing directly onto their tongues in an effort to neutralize the heat.

I just took another swig of Sam Adams and called it a night.

Blog friends, meet Maggie. I don't think you've been properly introduced.

On an unrelated subject, Dean is - for the first time since I've known him - wearing black t-shirts and/or t-shirts with some sort of print on them.

It makes me feel unsafe.

For almost four years, all I've known of this kid is white t-shirts in the summer and flannel in the winter.

Dean, you are a hipster. We all love you no matter what, just as long as you accept yourself. Just know that we're all here for you in this new season of life.