It is now somehow March. With a new month, apparently, come new and disturbing things to occupy our collective attention.
I am extremely thankful that February has had, as its companion, Elisabeth’s latest exercise in finding gratitude each day. It has been a gift to feel obligated to focus my mind on the big and little joys that surround me. Thank you so much, Elisabeth, for leading this practice in tracking the glimmers of light even on dark days.
This past week was a birthday week, and since many of the things that made this week’s gratitude list are birthday-related, I’m going to deviate from how I’ve tracked them. Instead of going day by day, I’m just going to make a big list.
- Sunshine!: We’ve had more sunshine than not this week, and I’ve loved it! Spring feels like it is trying extra hard to burst forth into our lives and I appreciate the effort.
- Lunch with Mom and Dad: I got to go out to lunch with my parents, which is always so lovely. Having them nearby is something I do not take for granted, and I am so glad they enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs. After lunch, my mom and I went for a little stroll in the sunshine. Wonderful.
- Baking Projects: I did a bunch of baking this week, which is always enjoyable. My attempt at lemon bars was a bit of a flop (I forgot the salt entirely and then I’m pretty sure I underbaked the crust), but! I did make a delicious loaf of perfect sandwich bread from scratch. And I transformed a pair of extremely past-their-prime bananas into a snack cake that my kid and her friend gobbled right up.
- Sleepover: The kids were off school on Friday again (don’t want them to have too many five-day weeks!), so my kiddo had one of her closest friends stay the night. We went out to dinner, then grabbed ice cream, and the girls had a wild time watching movies and giggling and staying up way too late. Even though the noise grates on me, I am so grateful that my daughter has this friendship in her life.
- Birthday Cat: My kitty turned one, and it was fun to celebrate him. He brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined, and I am grateful for him every day.
- Checking Off an Onerous Task: My car was due for a checkup, which I *hate* doing, for so many reasons. The experience was comically awful, but now it’s DONE, and I don’t have to get a checkup for a long time!
- Long Distance Love: I got so many cards and texts and phone calls for my birthday, it was staggering. I feel so very lucky to have so many wonderful, kind, caring people in my life.
- Mexican Food and Margaritas: My husband wanted to know if he should make reservations at a steak house for my birthday, but you know what? I wanted mediocre Mexican takeout and margaritas from a bottle. That’s what I got and hoo boy, was delicious.
- Flowers!: My back-home best friend sent me the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers!!!! Lenny of course had to inspect them (and taste a leaf immediately, which is why I can only buy cat-safe foliage; he threw it up later which was super fun for all of us) before I moved them to one of the few cat-safe spaces in our home.
- Call Week Perspective: Call weeks remind me how grateful I am for all the weeks my husband is not on call.
- Tea!: My parents gave me an extremely generous check to use on something frivolous, which I am looking forward to spending. Since my mom likes to have something for me to unwrap, she also gave me two tins of looseleaf tea that sound fun and delicious, and a little tea strainer that looks like a leaf!
- Clean Sheets: While my kid and her friend slept in, I laundered all the bedding. I just LOVE slipping into a fresh, clean bed at night. It’s a small thing, but it brings me pleasure.
- Books!: My husband got me a stack of great books to read, along with a couple of other gifts. He knows me so well; these books all sound fabulous and I can’t wait to dive in.
- Surgical Success: A beloved family member had surgery this week, and – even though we don’t yet have the results – the procedure itself went smoothly and the family member is doing great.
- Yoga Nudge: Julie has invited everyone in blogland to join her, virtually, for yoga practice every Saturday. I finally got my rear in gear and managed to do this video – which was all about slow, intentional poses with lots of deep breathing and mindful exploration of gratitude. I hated every minute of it. But, as with many things that are both difficult and worthwhile, I am so glad I stuck with it. Forcing myself to slow down, mentally and physically, is something I struggle to do, and long after the video ended I was enveloped in a sense of serene calm. Oh right; this is why we’re supposed to try things that we don’t normally do, and to push outside our comfort zones once in awhile. I am grateful for that reminder, and grateful to Julie for facilitating it!
- Long Distance Friends, Again: On my birthday, I got a call from a friend I haven’t seen in seven years. This is one of my favorite people in the world, and I really don’t know why we lost touch – I want to blame children and careers and time zones, but I really need to just look harder at how I can make connecting with him more of a priority. Anyway, he called me and asked where I was, and I told him. Since it was kind of an odd question, I asked where he was, figuring he was in Europe or on a ski hill somewhere. But no, he was IN MY TOWN. He ended up coming over for dinner that night and spending time reminiscing with me and my husband and catching us up on what’s been going on since we last saw him. It was so incredibly special, and I don’t think I can adequately express how grateful I am that we were able to get together.
- New Rug: We finally finally ordered a new rug to replace the IKEA rug that’s been under our kitchen table for fourteen years. For the most part, I still like it. But it has become a tripping hazard and Lenny likes to hide hair ties underneath it, which is making the problem worse. We haven’t managed to remove the new rug from its package yet (see above re: Call week), but it’s HERE and I’m excited!
- Forty-Five: Even though forty-five feels startlingly old, somehow, I am grateful for this birthday and for every birthday I get to have. Growing older is, a lot of the time, a pain in the ass, but above all, it is a gift.
Many thanks to Elisabeth for leading another month of the FIG Collective.
Happy birthday my dear dear friend. You are just the best and you deserve to be celebrated in all the ways! I love reading this and I love all the little luxuries – friends, cards, tea, books, lunch out, margaritas, omg especially margaritas, I could really go for a margarita right now, I must figure out how to make margaritas happen for me next weekend, why am I still talking about margaritas, do I have a problem, I hope not, let’s move on.
Those flowers are gorgeous, and of course yoga is wonderful, and sleepovers and baking – it’s all good. This post was a little burst of happiness! Thank you! xo
So much good, but the long distance friend thing – SO MAGICAL. Happy happy birthday to you and Lenny, you are both cute af. Way to go on knowing what you wanted for your birthday and getting it – mediocre Mexican takeout and bottle margaritas is totally my jam (and my neighbour’s, she really gets me).
The Jim Carrey thing threw me for a loop, and then a different kind of loop, even weirder? The light is better and longer now, even though it’s still insanely freaking cold.
Happy Birthday to the cat and you! He is very majestic. I don’t think colonoscopy instructions are much of a birthday gift though. 🙂 It sounds like you’ve done many wonderful things and gotten together with special people. And that you very much appreciate all these gifts.
Happy birthdays, Suzanne and Lenny. Sounds like you celebrated in style.
Beth’s out of town for a week and tonight Noah and I had takeout Mexican.
I feel like the WORST FRIEND EVER. I have so many bloggy birthday’s recorded and I do not have yours and I AM SORRY. This is now entered in my planner.
This post… I mean I’m practically in tears reading it. It is just overflowing with delightful things and I NEEDED TO READ THIS and thank you for being such a ray of joy in bloggy land.
Hooray for sleepovers and beautiful flowers and yoga and birthday presents, and birthday kitties and presents and lunch with parents and sunshine and books and yummy tea. Love, love, love this joy overload, my friend. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY (and good luck with the colonoscopy-hahaha).
Happy Birthday! Now I’m about to go down a Jim Carrey hole I’m afraid…
So much birthday week awesomeness, Suzanne!! Happy Birthday to you!
(I actually thought Jim Carrey was dead)
happy birthday! Might I suggest Lulu align joggers as an excellent use of frivolous money? THE MOST COMFORTABLE PANTS IN THE WOOOOORLD.
Hey you changed the title of your blog! How long along did this happen? It’s entirely possible it happened a month ago and I did not notice.
Happy Belated Birthday! I am glad you got showered with gifts and got to see a friend. I will say I do not like questions like “where are you right now” or “are you busy right now?” I want to know why I am answering a question before I answer it… I’m weird like that. But if it was coming from a really good friend, I wouldn’t be bothered – or as bothered. Ha.
Do you and the cat share a birthday?? I think yours is the 25th if I am remembering correctly?
Also, I am so out of touch with what is happening in the world that I had to google whether Jim Carrey died!
Happy belated birthday. I’m team Mexican and margs. All the way! I’m happy for you that your parents moved nearby. What a gift that is. I’m sure you don’t take meeting them for lunch locally for granted. I cannot believe Leo is a year old. Where did the time go? The long distance friend being in town and getting to meet up with him . . . that is an outstanding surprise. I rarely get to see my bestie from high school, so he and I have started scheduling phone calls every now and then. He’s in NYC along with a few of my other friends, and I keep thinking one of these days I’m gonna schedule a trip out there to see everyone.
Now, this is the kind of post that fills me with all good and happy thoughts! I love all your gratitudes and there are many of them! That’s something I love and I enjoyed each and every one of them! Happy Birthday week/month! I say celebrate as long as anyone will celebrate with you — and when they wear out, keep on celebrating yourself!
Happy Birthday!!!! Sounds like you celebrated in all the right ways. I want to hear more about that tea! Margaritas, books, presents… and colonoscopy instructions! Isn’t getting older fun???
Happy Birthday! 😀
Sounds like a fabulous week to kick the new age off. And the sandwich bread is *gorgeous*!
Happy birthday, Suzanne! Happy Colonscopy month too! 😂
Lenny is already one? Say it isn’t so!
I love that you get to visit with your parents often and that you know it’s such a gift. I could hug you just for saying so.
You were gifted so many lovely things, but always the best things are your family and so many lovely friends, near and far. Oh, to be forty five again! HAHA. (Words I never thought I’d say or write!)
Happy belated birthday, Suzanne! It sounds like it was lovely. 45 sounds great to me. I loved being 45! I am now 57, and while I’ve been through some rough stuff, it’s pretty darn good too. I’m grateful for every day! Wishing you a wonderful 45th year!!!
Happy birthday! I love that you now have to share the birthday attention with your cat. Tehehe.
I will admit that I had a slight panic attack at the top of your post because I have NOT been online enough to know about the Jim Carrey conspiracy. I thought he legit died.
Gosh, kid sleepovers. Those were the best when we were kids, weren’t they? It must be fun to get to experience them again with your own kid!
happy belated, Suzanne!! Thank you for brightening up our feeds with your writing!
I’ll be 45 in May and was also instructed to start the colonoscopy process :/ but what needs to be done, needs to be done.