Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

It is time to face the strange changes....

Small Child turned nine years old yesterday.

As I watched her run and ride and twirl with her friends I realized she was no longer Small Child.

So three cheers and nine candles to Young Girl, in all her glory.

Anniversaries

It's happened, the big birthday.

I am now fifty years old. 

I wish I could say that today was full of joy, but the universe chose to remind me of impermanence and physicality. And that is as it should be, no?

The planned celebration, pared back this year to a few close friends, was cancelled as The Man, Small Child, and I are all suffering from various layers of an infectious parfait. We've been unusually healthy lately, but all running at hyperspeed.

And now, we're forced to rest.

When things do not turn out as you plan, try to find the real plan. The one that time reveals.

It's there, underneath your worries, complaints, aches, impatience. 

I haven't quite found it yet.

I suspect it will turn up when I stop looking.

Thanks to all of you who sent greetings and good wishes. Your friendship will mean even more in the next half-century.

Alert: Holidays Ahead!

The holidays officially begin this week, and the "horns of plenty" are overflowing with tales of family eccentricity.

The Man, Small Child, and I will be - as of this minute - having a tiny Thanksgiving courtesy of multi-car pile-up of drama that I will do my best to pull together in an amusing post over the next few days.  I'm going to roast a duck and prepare my sinfully delicious cornbread-and-bacon stuffing (endorsed by the portfolio managers of cardiologists everywhere).  Yum.

On a vaguely related note, today is the birthday of both my adorable Third Nephew and my sister. I feted the former, a kind and loving child, by providing the comic relief at his birthday party. Bowling is not like riding a bike, it seems.  If one goes, say, thirty years without aiming a pin her skills do not rush back. But nothing puts smiles on the faces of the ten-and-under set like middle-aged physical comedy. I'm proud to serve.

Honoring my sister was not so easy. I opted for a drive-by: gift card in birthday envelope deposited in mailbox. Always the safe choice when the recipient isn't speaking to the giver.