Good job keeping your hands busy. Congratulations on the three weeks! You can do this.

Silver Queen makes a lot of sense. What an awesome birthday present to yourself, a trip to Europe. I know it is scary and I know it feels weird being the oldest but being older is a good thing.

As for your friends doing something special for your birthday. Why can't you all celebrate before you leave or after you come back? Sure it would be great to do it on the day but truthfully it will mean just as much a little later. You could plan with your friends to all do something special at the same time on your birthday. You could all write each other notes that you can take with you on your trip then at a specific time on your birthday you could all open them. That way you know when you are thousands of miles away in a strange place they are still with you.
Carrie

<font color=green>But the implicit and usually unconscious bargain we make with ourselves is that, yes, we want to be healed, we want to be made whole, we're willing to go some distance, but we're not willing to question the fundamental assumptions upon which our way of life has been built, both personally and societally.--Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft