Okay, this doesn’t bode well. Sometimes all you need to do is sleep on a new haircut and it’ll look more like itself, more like what it wants to be, in the morning. But not all the time... That Dave, he’s a lucky guy, huh?
But not even the prospect of a bad hair winter -- maybe if I put on a ton of makeup no one will notice my pixie cut gone wild -- can dampen my spirits today. I’m as excited as I've been about anything in recent memory. Today's my birthday party! The guest list is highly exclusive: David, Annie, Jack, Luke, Hope and moi, Mneme. There, I’ve said their names! It was time to name all of them out loud. Sort of like a twisted version of Rumpelstiltsken or something.
We’re having a family dinner in the city tonight. All of us together, sitting around a table in a lively environment eating delicious food and just enjoying one another’s company -- that’s my idea of perfect happiness (and my answer on the Proust questionnaire). So tonight I attain nirvana, paradise, heaven, whatever you want to call it. How lucky am I?
Ultimately, having dinner with my husband and my children is what I decided I wanted to do most for my birthday. We thought about taking a trip; in fact, we thought and thought and thought about it until honestly, I just didn’t want to go anywhere. I had all kinds of reasons for not wanting to go away, but the one that mattered most was simply that I love it here. This is my life and the place that I want to be on my fiftieth birthday. I want to blow out the candles and make my birthday wish smack dab in the middle of all I know and am, surrounded by my family and my to-do lists and my unmade bed. My wish is that I remain as blessed as I have been for the last 50 years -- that life goes on just as it has. I’m incredibly lucky. I didn’t do anything to deserve it. The Galapagos can wait.
Anyway, I bought myself a new party dress. $39.99 at Target. Things are looking pretty good.
And in the city tonight with you around the dinner table will be your siblings, if only in spirit, remembering the day Dad came home from the hospital and announced that we had a new baby sister. And tomorrow I look forward to reading all about tonight's jubilee! xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteWhen our kids went off to college and my birthday came around (Dec. 19), I was soooooo very sad. For the first time we wouldn't be together for my birthday. We always went out to a restaurant of my choosing, then home for cake. I missed it tremendously. We celebrated on a different day, but somehow it's not the same. It's now the day that someone usually comes home for Xmas break. There's not a better present in the whole world than that!!!!! Hope your evening was amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteHope it was amazing! Can't wait to hear all about it.
ReplyDelete