electric mist

a happy birthday

I think today turned out to be one of the best birthdays I've had in a long, long time. From as early as I can remember, I have been a big birthday freak, wanting to savor every minute. My Mom tells the story about how, when I was seven-and-a-half, I could not wait until my eighth birthday. I brought it up constantly, asking how much longer would it be. When it got to be about two months before the actual birthday, I increased the questioning to daily, and then two or three times a day and FINALLY I was eight years old. Mom said that the next day, I started saying I couldn't wait until I turned nine. (I think she wanted to smack me right about that moment.)

Every April, I would also start saying I was the next year up in age (a good two months before the actual date). My Dad used to tease me, saying that when I turned 30, he knew I would no longer be doing that... and he was wrong. I still do it, even this year.

You might think from the crazy birthday lust that it was caused by much spoilage and great parties and lavish presents, and you'd be wrong. I think there may have been one or two parties as a kid, and over the years, there have been a few nice presents, but mostly it's phone calls and cards. It's mostly just this... joy I have about another milestone. I stay up the night of my birthday until 12:00 a.m. rolls around to celebrate the start of my day and then I usually try to arrange to sleep late, laze about and do nothing much. Sometimes the day is all about curling up with a much anticipated novel (particularly if Carl is out of town for that day), sometimes it's spent watching a string of favorite movies and sometimes it's wonderfully simple, like hanging out with Carl all day, eating lunch, checking out various things we'd intended to check out and never really made time for, shopping for some needed item and, tonight, going to a play (quite good). Today had an added bonus of us hearing from a brand spanking new client in the middle of the day and learning we'd just landed that job -- a real plus because this is a new niche for us and potentially a lot of future work. We had a terrific lunch at an old favorite restaurant I hadn't been to in a while (the Chimes, still serving some of their best etouffee). There were flowers from the kids, e-mails and phone calls from family and friends, and lots of laughter as Carl and I had a wonderful day. (We picked out a new office chair which Carl will pick up Monday.)

Here I am, per tradition, at midnight again, watching the clock tick away my day. The world moves on, with big events (Regan's funeral and burial) and small, everything ebbs and flows, and I am glad to be here, glad to have the chance to see what I see, to meet the people I've met and be a part of the lives around me. Tomorrow has so much hope, and I feel like this summer is going to be one of the very best in a long, long time. It has been a good day.

Posted by toni at June 12, 2004 12:12 AM