Just Happy

I celebrated my 35th birthday this week.  I was already happier than a pig in mud, so I didn't need a party to lift my spirits.  In fact, in the summertime when "bedtime" is merely a rhetorical concept for my children, every night feels like some sort of party at my house.  Honest to goodness, on one recent summer evening all of us girls found ourselves dancing with underpants on our heads in our upstairs office.  If memory serves, my husband was "working" at his computer, but someone snapped the elastic waistband of a pair of colorful knickers around his forehead so he wouldn't feel left out.  The best part of it all is that I am able, in the midst of these bouts of frivolity, to take a mental moment to process how wonderful it all is.  I often sigh contentedly and think to myself, "I am very happy right now."  And that is a gift.

My current state of summer happiness is completely enough, but my husband, who is not an accomplished party-planner, managed to secretly gather a few of my new Michigan friends and surprise me with a perfectly pleasant birthday dinner.  As a matter of fact when it came time to blow out the candles, I had a really hard time coming up with a wish...

I decided to go with the beauty queen's favorite: World Peace.  So that's sorted.

My daughter Emma made for me a book full of artwork, poetry and photographs.  It was absolutely perfect.  The back cover reads, "Read this when you're happy; read this when you're sad.  It will cheer you up to see all of the smiling faces of those who love you...  This was made with love just for you."  The second to last page was left blank except for the printed instructions at the top: "On this page please stick a picture of your 35th birthday par-tay."  I think I will stick this one there:

But I would also like to include for the record my very own "Cake Wreck."  According to my husband the lady behind the bakery counter at Meijer was not an accomplished cake decorator.  She had, in her own words, only practiced on one other cake.  George encouraged her to continue her training on my birthday cake.  Of course I love it way more than a perfect cake...

"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval." -George Santayana