Although we never started over a birthday after a slip, my former home group used to celebrate birthdays and it was AWESOME ! We did it quarterly. Each person who was celebrating got birthday cards, and each had the opportunity to get up and speak for a few minutes about how the program was working in their lives in the past year. It was fun, very encouraging to all - especially newcomers. Our group handed out chips as well.... usually from sponsor to sponsee. My angel sponsor had 25 or 26 yrs of active Al Anon recovery before she died, and I know that she cherished her chips.
I wish that we did it where I am now. I am thinking of having a birthday party for myself in September - It's my "birthday" month and I think it's time to celebrate !
As for Al Anon slips... some of mine are blatant and I know immediately that I have really messed up. Other times, like so much of this disease, the slip is a bit more insidious and sneaky. It slithers into my life and my psyche and can get a fairly good stranglehold on me before I realize what's happening. The good news is that I can catch it quicker and do something about it with the recovery tools at hand. My alcoholic and addict friends have asked me about this, and we've even debated as to which slip is worse. THEY think theirs are worse, and I attribute that to the alcoholic/addict ego. I think ours are just as dangerous and debilitating.
Congrats to you J A and your partner too on YOUR birthdays!