All these thank yous are in this Instagram post. :) Thank you all so much for the birthday love!

u/alluu3 for the "Make a Wish" card with a cat-chy pun! "Where do you get a birthday present for a cat?" ..."from a cat-alogue." Ba dum tish.

A. .... you didn't provide your username, but you sent the Happy Birthday postcard with the stack of presents on it, so please tag yourself in this post!

u/rennbrig for the "Howdy dog" postcard - I love human connection, too! Hello neighbour, and we should get together for tea! Is Teaism still around at Penn Quarter? I used to stop by there when I worked downtown. :)

u/Powerful_Cobbler_215 for the Happy Birthday card with candles - and are those your cats? Beautiful! Maine Coon? And loved the blep face on your orange and white kitty. :)

u/philosophySmart2704 for the pretty floral notecard with all the happy stickers inside! I'm really trying to curb the sugary indulgences, but people keep SENDING ME COOKIES WTF. And oh yes it's warm. Like over 90 degrees! So I'm outside, but crepuscular... I burn to a crisp in midday, so I have to be careful. When you click on the Instagram link above, check out my garden/greenhouse post! (oh, and rambling is good. Always ramble.)

u/bupycA for the beautiful sunset card and quote from Celine Dion: "Life imposes things on you that you can't control, but you still have the choice of how you're going to live through this." Truth. And oh, your handwriting. <3

u/laceysleepy for the handmade card and black salutation cards - very cool! Good sleep? Check. Food? Check. Working on something I love? Check - I have posted some photos of my greenhouse on Instagram! Step into the sun? Check! Carefully, because I BURN. And have a calm night? Better living through chemistry, love. ;) And yes, we're going to have a good week. I'm determined!

u/aepeyc for the funny "good/bad cholesterol cop" card; I'm evidently about to have an indulgent weekend, thanks to my thoughtful husband! :)

u/gimmiegnomes for the cute puppy card and colourful inside! And stickers! Your lettering is so much fun. :) Thank you!

u/soxgal for the happy pink card and stickers - I always try to find the small moments of happy in each day, and to be grateful for the things that make my life a little easier to bear. In the grand scheme of things I am lucky and loved, especially with such an outpouring of support from RAoC friends! Thank you.

u/welshfancy x2 what can I say? Thank you for your gorgeous (as usual) handmade cards - the "you got this" floral card and the tea card! And while hot tea season is over, there's always iced tea! :) Thank you for the lovely letters, and remember that health is not linear - we must take a step back every now and then because we are not perfect. But being gentle on ourselves is part of the journey; we can do this.

u/elephant-jane for the pretty stacked-present card that was MORE gorgeous on the inside (it called for an extra photo in the post!) - thank you for the sweet note and stickers, too!

u/mtlbigdawg for the guinea pig card! OMG HOW did you know I love guinea pigs?!? I founded CavyMadness.com back in 1999 and ... well, it's pretty stagnant right now because I suck, but yeah, I'm the genesis of an online guinea pig community! I don't have peegs anymore (snif), so I have to live vicariously through others' cavies. Your card is so adorable! (Je veux visiter Québec! J'ai été à Montréal, mais pas Québec!)

u/honeymallow for the handmade cat card... and it's totally not childish to still love birthdays! Self-indulgence is self-care. :) I LOVE flea markets, too!

u/stephkempf for the pretty watercolour card - I know I'll be visiting a botanical garden this weekend, and that's about it. An ominously large box has arrived this week "for my birthday" that I'm not allowed to touch, and my husband has something up his sleeve. So we'll see what fun is afoot. :)

u/cswl for the "Hello" card and postcards! My main triumph this week has been in the realm of cat-herding. At work I provide graphic design support for conferences, and there's an AcademyHealth conference here in Washington, DC. I had to manage (along with a design colleague of mine) 15 large-format posters that will be displayed at this conference, so it was a matter, over the past two weeks, of creating, editing, printing, and delivering these posters. We're now in the final stages of printing and delivering to hotels right now. I'm good with project management and design, but getting curveballs for OTHER projects amid all this makes it a little hairy. AND now I'm going right into another conference: 12 posters for the Global Health Security conference in Singapore at the end of June. Fun! :)

Oh, and I splurge. A lot. But I have to balance splurging with making sure I don't rack up debt. I'm currently debt-free, except for a car loan. And that in itself (and saving for retirement) is the long-range reward that motivates me over short-range splurges and indulgences. Still, indulging myself considering all the crap that I have dealt with over the years? I consider it cheaper than therapy.... ;)

u/storyAlternative6476 for the "comet illuminated in space" postcard! That is cool. In college I was an astronomy lab assistant, and I've always held a somber awe for celestial bodies. Thank you.

u/ifindcosplay for the Oregon postcard. I've never been to Oregon, but I'd love to take a West Coast road trip some day! I've been to Seattle and was awestruck by how beautiful it was out there. Hawaii remains the most beautiful place I've visited... even more so than the Caribbean!

u/wildflowerField90 for the un-brie-lievably hilarious pun-filled cheese card. It doesn't get feta than a card full of cheese, brielieve me. It's difficult for me to pick a favourite cheese, but blues are my nemeswiss. Can't handle that strong a cheese! Oh - and thanks for the butterflies, too! I have milkweed, so hoping the Monarchs return for another year. :)

u/calculatingmove for the glittery birthday hats card with all the stickers and notes! Thank you for the wonderful letter, too - you are very thoughtful, and RAoC is a better place because of you. <3

u/lonelytwatwaffle x2 I had posted your Happy Birthday card in a previous Instagram post, and then you sent the postcard of Jackson Klein along with stickers and a note...! AWWWWWWWW. One day I must meet your cat. I hope you are doing okay... I'm here if you need me! I suck, too... I've been sitting on an amazeballs thing to send you for two weeks now. I should get on that. MWAH.

u/birdiebennett for the cute Pusheen postcard! I had posted this in a previous Instagram post, and I love the quote from Albert Camus, which is a lovely wrap-up to this post:

No matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me there's something stronger--something better, pushing right back.