Birthday serenade by the Davis children!

Reason No. 10,576 why I love our babysitter, Michelle.

Because she does stuff like this:

OMG! Best. Birthday present. EVER!

(Love their little slippers! And how Dean stretches out the ends of words like a true R&B singer! And how Cary is so over it. And the newest member of the singing sensations: Clair!)

Like I said earlier, "Happy Birthday to ME!"

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 39 today!

Because I am an idiot, I decided to come to work.
And on the news this morning they reminded me how old I am by noting that E.T. came out 30 years ago today. Thirty years ago. Thirty. I remember going to see that movie with my Dad, and he cried at the end, but pretended he didn't when we asked him about it. To this day, he swears he didn't cry at E.T. But he totally did. 

I digress. Back to moi!

I may be old and at work, but at least my boys came in the room this morning and both said, "Appy Boithday!" (and then Cary said, "Appy Boithday, Baby Clair!" to his sister, too. Share the love!) Clair was all smiles this morning, and adorably played with her toes while I got ready for work.

And Lester and I went out Saturday night on a surprise birthday date! We had wine and three courses, including a crab and artichoke phyllo thingy that I gobbled in .7 seconds, it was so good. And bouillabaisse! Yum!

And he really surprised me by finding two really hard-to-find CDs I've been looking for, and burning them on to one disc, so I can have them forever! Lester is awesome! I can't say it enough.

Today, I heard from my Mom, her two sisters and my Nana all before I left the house.

I played "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 on repeat like six times on my way into work, with the windows rolled down and the volume probably way too high. (That song makes me so happy!)

Speaking of Sunday morning, AUNT FLO came in the wee hours of Sunday morning! So I can quit worrying about that, and start the birth control business. Whew!

My friend Stacey just came in and brought me homemade chocolate-chip cookies! Thanks, Stacey!

And Mother Nature has given me a beautiful day, sunny and warm and bright-bue-skied.


So all in all, it is already a lovely day, and it's only 9:30 a.m.

Happy birthday to me!!

Old Mommy

Last week, I pulled two 14-inch-long gray hairs from my head. This week, there are 6 more.

Yesterday was the 21st anniversary of the day I graduated from high school.

I remember when I was 21 years OLD. How on Earth have I been out of high school 21 years?

Apparently, I am old. Next week, I'll turn 39. Which doesn't feel old so much as it sounds old. Thirty-nine.

{Shudder.}

My mom complained to me the other day that she was annoyed at being totally gray at 58.
But look how good my hot Momma looks totally gray!

I hate her. (Just kidding. She's awesome. I love her!)

But, man, does she have it good?! She's a young 58 with 5 grown-up children who have children of their own. By the time I'm 58, Cary and Dean will be 22 and Clair will be 20. By the time those kids of mine are ready to have kids, I'll be knocking on 70 (God-willing). Good grief. How did this happen?

I usually feel really good about waiting until I was reallllly ready to have children before having them. That means waiting until I found the absolute right partner (took a long time for that, folks) and until I had done a few things I wanted to do as a solo human being, like travel a bit, buy a house, get my finances in order and not care so much about brunch on Sunday mornings or long, afternoon naps.

But when I think about being my Mom's age with college-aged children, I wonder if I would have done better to get started a little earlier.

Then again, my boss, who is 54, has two sons. One's out of college and living in New York; the other's a junior in college. When we come in to work on Monday and do the obligatory, "How was your weekend?" exchange, my part always sounds something like this: "Wah wah such-n-such didn't sleep...wah wah...craziness...wah wah my house is a mess...schlepping screaming kids around...wah wah...never enough time to get it all done."

His part, on the other hand, usually has the words "outdoor concert," "dinner at this great new restaurant," "golf," and "then we decided to stop and get a drink at [you-name-it cute little spot on the water] and stayed there for hours!"

I hate him. (Just kidding. He's awesome. And so's his wife.)

So maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel. By the time my kids are the ages his kids are, I'll only be 4 years older than he is now. That's not so bad. Lester will be even younger (lucky dog). So I can look forward to hanging out in New York with my (fun, responsible, interesting) kids the way my boss does with his, and lazing around on weekends with Lester, bopping about the city with little else to do but have dinner at great new restaurants, go to fun outdoor concerts and then decide to stop and get drinks at you-name-it cute, little spot on the water.

Hmmmm. When  I think about it that way, 39 doesn't seem so old, and 58 is sounding pretty sweet!