Birthday Blessings

Yes, today was my birthday. Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes. I'm 34 all over again! (Not because I've decided to hover there, but because I've thought this whole last year that I was already 34. What they say about the memory being the second thing to go? No, it's the first. Everything else seems to function just fine, thank you.)

We had a lovely, quiet day. Saturday we have plans to enjoy live music and dancing. But today was grocery day. Needleroozer called to sing me Happy Birthday. Then she laughed at me when I said my big outing would be the market. I know it sounds silly, but I really love and appreciate grocery shopping. I love taking the children along to help, to visit, to spend that time together. I love that we have so many options available to us. I love that, although we do budget, it's not a hard-core, beans-and-tortillas budget.

I remember one particular evening with Zorak, many years ago, we talked about all the things we would buy when he'd graduated and we weren't living off the Scholarship Fairy anymore. It was all food. Steak. Thick, thick, heavily marbled steak. Artichoke hearts. Sushi. Brown rice. The good ice cream. Yesiree, we were gonna live high. on. the. hog.

Well, now we've got four children and a little place of our own. We don't splurge the way we dreamed we would, but we do eat well, and we enjoy it. Although I'm joking when I tell Zorak we're off to blow his hard-earned cash, I feel like that's exactly what I'm doing as I pile our basket with fresh fruits and brown rice, with the occasional olives or a mango, and the wheat-free grains. I couldn't get a bigger high if I was buying Dooney & Burke Bourke purses wholesale. (Well, something like that. Obviously, if I can't spell it, I don't own it, right? I still can't bring myself to use something other than Zorak's old backpack or my messenger bag. Some things just fit better than others. But you get the general idea.)

Food, along with all the thousand other connotations and cultural messages it carries, sings a song in my head that says, "You are loved, you're taken care of, you're taking good care of those you love. It's the circle of love, and of life, and of...ohhhhhh, turkey sounds good."

The boys were very sweet and affectionate with their Birthday Wishes. We all trekked out to see John's third game of the summer league. Both teams really played well. Our guys lost this game by one point, which puts them at 2-1 now. Not bad. Good game. Nice to see familiar faces. Even better to see that boy out there, looking bigger, bolder, more confident... James even asked, when John stepped up to bat, "Is that JOHN?" We got home, folded laundry, talked about the evening, the weekend, the upcoming visits. There was no time for a story, as four little heads hit the pillows with eyes closed in the time it took to say, "I love you."

This is a good time of life, I think. A good year behind me, and a good year ahead. A girl could get used to this. I've still got many things to work on, to improve, to do. Many books to read and discuss with the children (or at Zorak, through the bathroom door, if it's a really good book - although that may be one of the things he's hoping I'll work on...) What a blessing time and opportunity are, knowing the outcome is mine to decide. What a treasure my family is, and one I will work to be worthy of every day of my life. And that's the best of it there: my birthday gift is life. I get to do this all over again tomorrow. Or, to quote one of my sincere (yet less-than-subtle) relatives: Every day above ground is a good day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy