Feels like a birthday year

People have been asking me what we're doing for my birthday this year, and I gotta tell you, I'm exhausted already just thinking about what we have going on. Sneaking in specific birthday stuff is quite literally beyond me this year. Survival will be the best gift possible.

I'm not complaining. We've already had record travel fun this year, including my first-ever cruise that I feel like I just left. Still to come are trips to Boston, Oregon, Florida, California and Maine. 

My birthday falls the day before our annual Sleepover Book Club - which is always a huge, super fun day of excess. (And yes, we'll not only discuss the book, but we'll rate the year's books from best to worst. I have a reputation as a hard grader, but really, don't people need to know what to read and what to skip?)

Before Book Club, we're having dinner with friends and the day after Book Club, we have tickets to see The Black Keys. I also just had four great days with Ali and Beau. The sound of your kid laughing never gets old. Even when they're adults.

Some other fun things I'm counting as gifts: 
  • The Captain this morning reported that he'd reached over in the night and encountered my thigh. "I'm liking this Pilates," he said.  (I'm currently sitting with a heat pad as my companion courtesy of said Pilates.)
  • Alison called with birthday greetings and news that she's scheduled her presentation that will determine if she will pass the next hurdle on her path to a doctorate. It's two days after our planned visit with her, and she was wondering if we'd want to change our travel dates to be there to help her with the presentation. I don't know that Jeff and I have much to add when she gets into deep chemistry, but it's super sweet that she values our opinion/wants our support for this. Of course we'll change our plans. Milestones are milestones. Are we needy? Maybe. 
  • The dahlias, canna lilies and brown-eyed susans are bursting out all over. Some of the daisies are hanging on, too. I love a flower that lasts into late summer. 
  • There's a bunch of volunteer burnweeds, too. They tend to be thought of as weeds, but the interwebs say they're great for pollinators, and they might even be a haven for insect romance, so I've let them be. I'm starting to really like them and might mount a campaign to rename them. Get the "weed" out of there at least.
  • Birthday greetings are coming in from all over, and every time, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to have such good friends and family.
There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world. I'm doing what I can in the areas most important to me, and while that doesn't always seem like enough, I'm trying to accept that I can't fix everything for everyone everywhere. Thanks to everyone who had a nice thought about me today on this, the anniversary of my birth. (Especially those who sent great squirrel shots. The Squirrel will rise this Fantasy Football season. I just know it.) 









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