Random Musings

The Random Musings posts are the easiest for me because this is how my brain works, popping from one thought to the next with no regard for connectivity.  Here goes!!

Last night I was in bed getting ready to fall asleep  play games on my Kindle and Mr. Big Ed was already fast asleep as he goes to bed about 4 hours ahead of me.  When all the sudden he started jerking, moving and making sounds (reminds of me how a dog barks and runs in their sleep) and then he kicked me!  He KICKED me!!  AND DID IT AGAIN!  I started trying to wake him up and said "Hey, you are kicking me!" And in his dream fog he replied back "Yeah, I know. I was trying to kick the zombies".

Huh?  Zombies?

That was quite the unexpected end to my day!  Can't wait to talk to him about this over dinner and see if he remembers any of it.

A few days ago it was one of my sister's birthday.  She was turning the Big 5-0.  I did that just a few years ago my own self and wanted to come up with something fun to mark the occasion for her.  So I turned to my friend Google, and speaking of Google let me say this:  I do NOT like the new Google logo thing.  But back to the Googling adventure.  I asked Google about what products were put on the market the same year that she was born, 1965 and got a nice long list of really fun things.  Then I set about trying to find some of them.

Here's what I got:

The Sound of Music - they had a 50th anniversary edition available

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella - similar 50th anniversary edition

Mattel's See n Say, the Farmer says - This was a reproduction and it was the very first toy she was ever given as a Christmas gift so I was really happy to find one.

Operation Game - vintage with all the parts, money, even the original rubber band.

Mystery Date - reproduction of the original.

Spirograph - Be still my heart!  I loved the Spirograph so much!!!  This is an original one with everything still in the box minus the green pen.

Barrel O Monkeys - old, vintage, original.  Cute!

Spaghetti-Os - brand new can

Honeycomb Cereal - of course, new.

I found really fun brightly colored striped and polka-dotted giftwrap papers and wrapped them and set them out in a big pile in my family room because she happened to be in town this weekend.  She and her friend and friend's son all came over for dinner last night and I had her open them and try to figure out the connection between all these things.  I think the "50th Anniversary edition" on the damn DVDs gave it away but it was still lots of fun and I hope she likes them.

AND we broke out the Mystery Date game and played.  That was lots of fun.  We had dinner and I made a birthday cake which we were all too full to really enjoy.

This is the week leading up to the premiere of the new season of Doctor Who.  The 52nd season as a matter of fact.  And months ago they announced that there would be a showing of the first episode for this season in the movie theaters.  They did this last year and I got tickets and we all went dressed in our best Doctor Who outfits.  So the minute I saw this was happening again this year I snagged 2 tickets.  I have been beside myself about this ever since!

Until last week when I watched the trailer about the theater showing and see that it is actually going to be THE LAST EPISODE FROM LAST SEASON with a "special preview" of the upcoming episode.  WTF??

Are they kidding me?  What complete ass whistles.  That was a really crappy thing to do.  And guess what?  The new season starts this coming Saturday.  And this coming Saturday I will be at my mama's house at a family birthday party for my sister.  The one who was here.

Well, sonofabitch.  Now, not only do I NOT get to see the episode beforehand in the theater in 3D, but I also don't get to watch it on Saturday with the rest of the world.  I will get to watch it off the DVR much later then everyone else. Goddammit.

In other news, fall is shaping up to be absolutely gorgeous around here.  The sky is such a beautiful shade of blue, the birds and other critters seem quite happy.  And I have started decorating for fall/Halloween/Days of the Dead.  By decorating I mean I have hung Days of the Dead wreaths on my front doors and put out a package of Pumpkin Spice Kisses and some Halloween flavored Peeps. But it's a start!

Hope your fall or spring depending on your hemisphere is shaping up nicely!

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Okay, my blog friend Sluggy says we who want to play along on the Sunday Night Chit Chat should go here and follow directions.

Here's my answers!

Reading... "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.  This was recommended by a friend recently. I have just started and can NOT put it down!!!  I have never laughed so loud when reading in bed.  You will just adore this book.

Watching... AMC is running the whole previous 4 seasons of Breaking Bad late at night leading up to the Season 5 which starts on July 15.  I have been recording them and watching them and oh boy, it is even better watching a bunch back-to-back.  Season 5 is supposed to be the big finale so you want to be up on your stuff because this will be it.

Listening to...  I have the radio on tuned to an 1970s rock station and they are playing Van Halen "Dance the night away", and just segued in to some AC/DC "Dirty Deeds".

Cooking/Baking... nothing today.  But I just got a new recipe on Pinterest for Okra, Grilled Corn and Goat Cheese Fritters.  I will be going to get those ingredients for this week!  Yum.

Happy you accomplished... Holy Moly!  I finished a quilt I was making for my son that had been in the 70-80% done category for about 2 years. Then I got down an afghan I was 90% done with and finished it.  Right now I am working on a cross stitch project I have wanted to start for YEARS!  It feels really good to clear out some old projects.

Looking forward to next week... It is Mr. Big Ed's birthday on Wednesday, so that should be fun.

Thankful for today... got up early and have been accomplishing things.

*bonus question*

What is the WORST movie you've ever seen & couldn't be paid to watch again?  Hmmm, worst movie ever?  Let me think.  There are so many to choose from.  Right off the top of my head I am gonna have to go with a horrible piece of crap that my kids love and just think is *hilarious*.  The horrific "Freddy Got Fingered" with that moron Tom Green.  Have you seen this?  If not, be thankful.  It is so bad.  There are no redeeming qualities, not the filming, the writing, the acting, nothing.  It is pure crap.


Anyone want to play?  Either post your response in the comments or come comment with a link back to your own page.


Have a great Sunday night!

Losing your marbles and flipping your lid

Crap.  It has been way over a week since I have posted.  I was so busy (here's the losing your marbles part of the title) planning and taking care of the big 80th birthday party for my father-in-law that took place last weekend.  The party and all the family stuff was so much fun.  And unbelievably, all of us, and I mean every last one, were all in attendance.  Isn't that wonderful?

I don't know about you, but in our family, whether it be my side or Mr. Big Ed's side, there is always a conflict with someone's schedule and it just leaves a hole in the dynamics.  So anyhoo, it was wonderful that we were all here and that we got loads of pictures.

Rachel Pie and I worked hard on a project for this that we called "When Dad was my age".  I wrote down every child and grandchild in age order, then calculated what the year would have been when Dad was their current age.  For example, the youngest grandchild is five, so his part (read by his older brother) was this:  "When Grandpa was my age, the year was 1937.  FDR was president. The price of gas was, the price of a loaf of bread, and some fact pertinent to Grandpa's life".

You get the picture, right?  It was really fun taking those little strolls down through what was life like at each of those stages.  So, I sent all the info to Rachel Pie who took it all and put it on little pages for a scrapbook.  We skipped every other page and left the facing page blank to then put in a picture we took of Grandpa with each of the participants.  Then we ran off to CVS and printed up those photos and stuck them in and gifted him with the book.

I gotta tell y'all, it was a HIT!  Everyone loved hearing what each other had to read and Grandpa loved it. But for some reason, neither Rachel Pie nor I expected it to become a touching, emotional event and it turned that way really quickly.  Lots of tearing up and dabbing of the eyes.  Then we had cake and ice cream and everyone was happy again.  : )

Last night Sparky and I were up really late and sitting in the family room in our respective "spots" and we heard this loud, and I mean really LOUD, BANG!!!!  We looked all over and Sparky looked outside but we didn't see anything.  So he wanders off to go to bed and I started hearing sirens.

Not hearing sirens off in the distance, like I normally hear when they are headed to the hospital nearby, but like right in front of the house.  So first I peeked out the peephole and there were flashing red, amber and blue lights aplenty!  Holy Shitballs!  Something major was happening on our street!

So I yelled at Sparky to come back down and look.  We looked again and for some reason I don't understand, he went back to bed!!!!


Not me!  I grabbed my cel phone and went trotting out there to see what was what.  It took my eyes a bit to process what was actually going on.  There were 2 huge fire trucks, and 5 cop cars all with lights blazing.  There were neighbors out there in all sorts of pajamas and hurried-on garb.  And in the midst of all this there were 2 cars in the street.

One was a parked car that had been not only side-swiped but shoved down the street.  And the other one?

Upside down and had been spinning on its top and come to rest facing perpendicular to the street.

Holy Shitballs, indeed!

Seems that the very young looking girl who crawled out of the red upside down car was loaded on something.  Whether it was booze or drugs remains to be seen.  She was barrelling down our street and managed to hit the parked car (of the neighbor's girlfriend) and careened into a free-flying upside down spinning disaster.  I have no idea how she got out of that car and was still all in one piece.  If anyone had been in her backseat they would be toast.  That car was fucked up bad.

Another cop car joined the light brigade and then 2 tow trucks came, one from each direction.  We were all wondering how on earth they would get an upside down car onto the bed of the tow truck.  You know how they do that?

THEY FLIP IT!

Here are some crappy cel phone pics of that whole process:

Amazing, right?

So after they flipped the car and all sorts of crap went flying out of the car, loose cds, cel phones, her purse, etc. They put all the valuable things in a plastic bag, gave the arresting officer the purse and took a huge push broom and swept up the remaining parts o'car and put them inside the car!!!


For some reason, that struck me as funny.  "Yeah, here's the REST of your car for safe keeping".

While all this was going on, we went back and forth between commiserating with the poor girl who will probably get her car totalled just by parking it on a quiet neighborhood street at 2 a.m. and watching the officer try to get a field sobriety test completed by the driver of the red spinning top car.  It was not pretty.  She was not present enough to know that her life had just taken a screeching wrong turn and there's no coming back from that.  Thankfully, no one was killed and she herself didn't appear to be hurt.  She is going to be sore as hell today when she wakes up in jail, that is a given.

It got me to thinking about how they always say that you get a lesson over and over again, stronger each time till you get that lesson and learn it and are able to move forward.  Wonder what her lesson might have been?  Sure hope she got it, because she might not live through another more forceful lesson.

Happy Birthday!!! and Get Well Soon.

Happy Birthday! to:

George Washington.

My Grandpa.

My aunt Kary.

My cousin Tammie.

My niece Katie.

That's a lot of people in my family being born on Washington's birthday, I think.

In other news, my younger brother (of course he's younger, I am the oldest.  All my siblings are younger!) is in the hospital.  Seems he woke up Monday feeling a bit under the weather and also in some pain.  It went away.  He went to work.

The pain returned.  But subsided, after it had his full attention.

When it returned hard and heavy for the 3rd time, HE DROVE HIMSELF TO THE HOSPITAL.

PSA - Please don't drive yourself to the hospital.  You could be having a heart attack (he was) and end up killing yourself and taking innocent people with you (luckily he didn't).

So my 40-something year old brother goes to the hospital and they said he was "having a heart attack".  I guess while they were watching and testing?  They went in through the femoral artery and put a stint in and things straightened right up.  Then he was moved to ICU and spent 24 hours or more there.

After that he was being moved to an intermediate care room and hopefully released today or tomorrow.

I gotta tell y'all that this is scary.  He is young, he is thin, he has a nice fast metabolism and seemed to be in good shape.  What business does a young, fit 40-something have going through this?  It scared the crap out of me.

Hopefully, they will give him some answers and he will make the necessary lifestyle changes.

In completely unrelated news, it is Ash Wednesday.  I have been thinking and thinking of what I am doing for Lent.  For the past few years I have been taking a small amount of our food budget and spending it on things for the homeless.  I make up little brown bags with a piece of fruit, a handi-wipe, some crackers or granola, different little items and usually a little note with something positive written on it.  I take 4 or 5 a day with me when I go run errands or go to meetings or whatever and pass them out.

Our city council in all its wisdom has decided to fine people who panhandle and also people who give to the panhandlers.  What dicks.  I am so pissed about this I can't stand it.

Needless to say, there are a lot of behind the scenes local politics at play in this and I am going to find myself down there raising all kinds of hell about this.

But back to the issue of Lenten giving.  I prefer to make my Lent observance something about giving to others from what I have rather than "giving up coffee, cheetos, wine, chocolate".  That's not very meaningful to me.  Of course I can go 40 days without whichever of those items, but what will I learn from that?  What will I take away from my Lenten experience?  I want to make it a little more impactful for me.

And in another turn of conversation!  Try not to get whiplash keeping up!  : )

My Rachel Pie may be the only person who finds my choice of cake pictures to be hilarious.  But honestly, what could be funnier than a My Little Pony birthday cake from Las Vegas?

Rachel Pie

Today is my daughter, the lovely and fabulous Rachel Pie's birthday.  Not just any birthday, but her 25th.  That is a big deal.  Makes you seem like a grown up person to be 25, doesn't it?

Here is a little pictorial of some Rachel Pie for your viewing pleasure!

First up we have pumpkins!!!  Yes, indeedy.  My kids were pumpkins for Halloween several years running and they had the costume that doubled as pajamas.  Rachel is 2 years old here and quite a happy plump little punkin!

This next one is a year or so later and I don't even know what to tell you about that gorgeous, messy little face.

This one is around 2005 to 2006 when Rachel had just started at Naropa University.  She was home, it's a backyard party, so I am guessing it is July 2006 for Jonathon's birthday.  Have you ever seen anything prettier than that smile?

This next one has a date stamp on it so that's helpful.  We are at a cousin's wedding and all dressed up. It was a lovely time.  I think Rachel looked exceptionally nice with her hair cut like that and in her apple green dress.  

Here, Rachel Pie is modeling the Virgin of Guadalupe jacket I made for her.  First the backside, then the front.

Here is a cute picture of Rachel with her Mimi (my Mama).  We are at a graduation party for my nephew.  I think this is the year that Rachel had spent a semester down in Mexico teaching permaculture and living on an organic herb farm.  That is why she is looking so tan and healthy!

Look!  Another family wedding and Rachel is wearing the green dress again!  She looks like a million bucks in that dress.  It has the little black band at the top and a full skirt.  She usually wears it with those little slip-on heels like Lucille Ball wore in the 1950s, and a black satin wrap.  That dress fits her like it was made just for her.  Her brother Sparky is on the left and cousin Danny is on the right.  They all had such a great time at this wedding.  All the cousins, including the bride and groom, went out dancing afterwards.

This next group of pictures are from Dec. 2009 when Rachel graduated from Naropa.  We were taking lots of fun pictures and everyone was laughing that whenever Jonathon a.k.a. Sparky smiles he gets squinty and you can't see his eyes.  Notice in the second picture, Rachel is trying to help him out with that!  She's such a good sister!

And here's Rachel filing in to get her diploma!  Yay Rachel!  The purple sash is a thing Naropa does rather than traditional cap and gown.  They also filed in behind bagpipers!  Awesome.

I am always proud of Rachel, but this was a huge moment for all of us.

And here's a picture of Rachel Pie last year when we were on the cruise.  She could not be any lovelier.

This is just a small sampling of some Rachel Pie pictures.  She has been a blessing to me and teaches me things every day since she was born.  My life was never as full and complete before Rachel.  I stand in awe of that child.  She just amazes me.  I can't think of a single person who is as sweet, tender, giving, loving and strong as she is.  I have never felt right taking any credit for her.  I am just an observer who gets a front row seat watching all the ways she enriches the lives of all she touches.

I love you, my beautiful precious angel face.  It has been my privilege to watch over you for this first 25 years, and I hope to be here for the next 25 and as far beyond that as I can.

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Look what I got

Look what I got sent to me!

My daughter, the fabulous Rachel Pie's partner sent me this picture.  And you know how a picture is worth a thousand words?

Well, check this out:

Bahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Just look at Kim up there with her 1980's phone!

Is that the most hilarious thing you have ever seen?

The next time I go back to where my aunt lives, I am going to the cemetary to take a picture of this headstone that reads "I told you I was sick".

Heeee!  I bet her family all feel like morons having to go see that little message everytime they go pay their respects to grandma.

p.s. It's my birthday and I am off to finish putting up Christmas decorations and set up for a lunch time party I am hosting on Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tomatoes, dogs and cats, oh my!

Time for more randomness!  My menopausal brain just fires out thoughts one right after the other that have nothing to do with each other and it is damn hard to keep them in a coherent pattern sometimes, so bear with me.

Take a look at what Mr. Big Ed brought in the other day when we were being threatened with a night dipping down to freezing:

There is a HUGE metal sheet pan full of green tomatoes as well.  Aren't those fabulous?  If you live up north and aren't currently growing your own tomatoes, well, all I can say is I am so sorry.

Look at those guys!  All organically grown heirloom stock from our own compost, no chemicals anywhere, and tasty too!

I was sitting on the couch the other evening with Ernest T. Bass (who by the by takes up 3/4 of the damn couch) and looked out and here's what I saw.  I quietly yelled at Mr. Deaf Big Ed to bring my camera and get this shot from both angles so you could also see this.

3 of the 7 all lined up in descending size order.  Bassie on the couch and then Stanley Manley and skinny little Angus MacPhee in front.  Stanley at least has the good sense to bend his front legs a little bit. Those other two look like they are going to have stiff joints when they try to get up if you ask me!

Today is my birthday.  It is also Pearl Harbor Day.  But I am not celebrating Pearl Harbor Day.  Mr. Big Ed woke me up singing to me and brought me a big mug of hot tea in bed and some flowers.  This will be the first time that my son Sparky will make my birthday cake.  Our family tradition is that you get to choose whatever you want for your birthday dinner and cake.  I have always chosen my Nana's Pineapple Upside Down Cake which is the best cake in the whole world.  One of my brothers always gets the chocolate and vanilla pudding layered up dessert thing, so in our family that thing is known as Chris' Birthday Cake.  Anyhoo, it will be Sparky's first time to make the Nana's Pineapple Upside Down Cake and carry on the tradition.  Hooray for Sparky!  And if I haven't already posted the recipe for the best cake ever, let me know and I will get it up here post-haste!

Time for me to head out and get busy.  I have already used up my daily quota of !!! excitement points.

It's my birthday and my wish is that each of you will have a fabulous day and find a little peace in the excitement of the season.

I'm back . . . . and I am gone again

Hey there!  I was gone for my nephew's wedding and all the accompanying festivities over the weekend and the wedding took place on Monday evening.  It was a whirlwind of excitement over there, is what it was!

This wedding was one of the very best I have ever been to, if not THE very best.  The ceremony itself was the most beautiful thing I have witnessed.  A+++++

And then the reception, well, the place was gorgeous, the service was impeccable, and the food was topnotch.  And on top of that!  they mixed up the families on the seating chart and we all have plenty of time to get to know each other.  Too much fun!

I will ask permission of the honeymooning couple when they return if I can post a few pics so you too can share in the joy.

And speaking of the honeymooning couple; we are all going to meet up tomorrow on a cruise ship.  It's my Mama's birthday and she planned this trip with (mostly) all her kids and (mostly) all her grandkids in attendance.  That's the way things work, you plan anything for August and there will be someone who is either still in school or starting school or whatever and they just can't attend.  You get 80 - 90% attendance in our family and you just have to call it good.

For us, leaving home and hearth is a big deal due to the two 13-year-old dogs, the two 9-year-old cats, the two 4-year-old cats and the 3 year old ADD puppy.  We made arrangements for the 3 dogs to board at the vet's office and my sister-in-law is to come over and pat the cats and replenish food and water and "un-replenish" the litter boxes daily.  And then last night happened . . . . . .

One of our little 4-year-olds, the MacPhee brothers, had been feeling a bit out of sorts.  But this was not anything to be alarmed at because he had been to the vet's last week for a small bite wound and was still recovering from that.  Anyhoo, we went to bed and about 1 a.m. he got up from where he was sleeping and walked over next to my bed and started crying.  Loudly.  Loudly crying.  Like I have never heard before.  So I turned on my lamp and jumped up and picked him up.  What was weird was that when he started making this sound, all the other cats gathered near him and started crying as well.  They never do that.  I am holding little Fergus and checking everything on him and his breathing is really fast and shallow and his tongue is sticking out and he is in obvious pain.  I am freaking out along with the other cats.

I asked Mr. Big Ed to please take him to the 24 hour emergency vet. And then I woke up my son and asked him to go along.  Then the phone calls started back and forth.  Poor little Fergus was in such bad shape they said they couldn't even assess him until they get a blood transfusion going to stabilize him. And the 24 hour emergency vet's office?  They didn't have any blood, so my husband had to transport him a second time to another 24 hour emergency vet.

He is there now receiving blood and hopefully getting better.  I am hoping and praying that numbers were skewed because of the existing wound and the antibiotics or something.  But it is not looking good for my little Fergus Jackson MacPhee.

And I am leaving town very early in the morning.  There is nothing I can do about that situation.

So if you are so inclined, please offer up a prayer for my small handsome kitty.  Good vibes, well wishes, positive intentions are all gratefully accepted.

25

This is one of those posts where you are gonna get really tired of old cliche's, like kids grow like weeds.  You know the old saws people trot out all the time, the same ones you swear you will never say because it makes you sound older than dirt?  Well, get ready!

Today is my son's 25th birthday.  It is so unbelievable to me that I need to say it again.  Today is my son's 25th birthday.


Here's where those old sayings come into play.  Time has flown by.  It seems like only yesterday.  How can he be 25 when I still feel like I am 25?

So last night we had to talk all about the night before his birth.  My whole pregnancy I didn't really eat meat.  I had no desire for it.  I ate a lot of beans, mac & cheese, really bland stuff.  But that night I had a real craving for a spicy chili cheese dog.  So that's what we had.  And I was up all night with gall bladder pain like you would not believe.  Horrendous!  And when I am in pain all I want is to be in warm water.  I spent most of the night in the bathtub floating around like a big pregnant whale.  I finally got into bed in the early morning hours and slept.  I woke up around 8 a.m. and was easing myself out of bed when my water broke.  We called the doctor and you know the drill.  If your water has broken they would like to see you at the hospital sooner rather than later.  This labor was pretty easy, but my guess is after the horrible pain I was in the night before, labor was a piece of cake.  When I finally decided I could use some drugs, it was too late.  It was time to birth this child.

Jonathon Karrol came into the world at 4:04 p.m. on a Thursday.  He was 8' 8" and 19 1/2" long.  He had a full head of hair and was absolutely perfect.  I can't imagine a thing that I would have changed about him. He and I learned together and from each other how to be parent and child.  My body knew how to birth him and then to produce milk and I was smart enough or naive enough to just believe that it would happen and all would be well.  It was.  At his first check-up he had increased to 10 lbs.

My heart was overflowing.  No one can ever explain to you how deeply you will fall in love when you give birth.  It is the most all-consuming thing.  Everything else around you ceases to exist when you are looking into the eyes of this little miracle.

This is Jonathon at 6 months.  Most of his baby hair had just fallen out and he looked like one of those little old men who are thinning on top.  Look at that sweet face, those sausage-y fingers, his little fat nose.

These are my two pumpkins on Halloween of 1989 or 1990.  They wore those costumes both years.

This is Jonathon's first school play.  Obviously he and his best friend were being Indians and Pilgrims for Thanksgiving.  Even more obvious is that they made their own costumes at school.  So cute.  When Jonathon started school at age 4 he walked up to this boy Andy and said Hi.  He just stood there every day and said Hi, until Andy decided to be his friend.  Andy was 5 and in the Kinder class and didn't know Jonathon from Adam, but this is the way Jonathon is.  He makes friends everywhere he goes.  This was the start of his career as the Social Butterfly.

This is when Jonathon was about 5 years old.  The other boy with him is the son of some good friends and he has since grown up to be a huge defensive lineman for the NFL.

This is Jonathon and my grandma 2 years ago on her 90th birthday.

This is my boy (and Johnny Cash)  presenting me with a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake he made me for Mother's Day a couple years ago.

Another view of the best smile in the world.

This is my boy.  I have loved him from before he was born.  I have loved him through the hard times of seeing his grandpas die of cancer, of the loss of pets, the broken hearts each and every time we had to move and uproot the kids and plant them in a new place and have them start all over again making friends.  I have loved him through the times where he has struggled mightily and I thought I would have to kill him or myself to get through to the other side.

The place we live may change.  The people around us may change.  Life's difficulties may change our circumstances.  But the one constant is our love for each other.  There is absolutely nothing I won't do for my kids.  They know I would walk through fire for them.

This first 25 years have literally flown by.  I hope that I am here to witness your next 25 and beyond.  I am always proud of you and the fine man you have grown to be.  You are full of character and understanding, you have empathy for your fellow man.  The world is truly a much better place with you in it.  I am constantly amazed at you and the impact you make on those around you.

I love you Jonathon, my Sparky boy.  Happy birthday.

January and that means . . .

It's birthday season around here!  The first 3 months of the year are Birthday Central in our family.  It is insane the number of birthdays to be celebrated!  I hate to keep using those darn excitement points!!!! but I can't be emphatic enough about the plethora of birthdays that are about to commence.  Here's a little preview:

Jan 11 - Good friend and should be a blood relation Connye
Jan 13 - Best friend all through my childhood Robin
Jan 15 - My Papa r.i.p.  (more about this in a separate post)
Jan 21 - Anniversary of the first date with Mr. Big Ed
Jan 22 - Rachel Pie's birthday
Then we have my nephew, my sister r.i.p., my step-dad r.i.p., my 2 nieces, my aunt, my father-in-law, my 2 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, etc.  You get the idea.  It's  HUGE list. And we haven't gotten to April yet.

Unfortunately, we don't live near all of these people so we don't get to celebrate with all of them.  And that's sad because I do love a birthday party.  I love birthday cake.  I love to watch people open their presents.  Birthday parties rock!

So my participation in a lot these long-distance festivities is limited to a phone call, a card or a gift in the mail.   Sometimes when we get a big group together we do a Mass Birthday Celebration.  Whomever has a birthday in that season gets gifts and a cake and gets to be with the family even though it might not be their real birthday, it's a real celebration and there's real intention behind it.

How do you celebrate birthdays?  Do you acknowledge with gifts, parties, cakes or a card?  It was really interesting when we lived in Mexico to see the different kids' parties my kids were invited to.  In Mexico it is customary to do a HUGE and I mean HUGE blow-out party for the 3rd birthday.  Not much for the first or second, but come the 3rd.  Well, pull out all the stops!  Huge, like you would think it was a wedding, huge.  Interesting, right?  So at the parties we went to of my kids' classmates, most everything is the same; kids running around, organized chaos, except the food.  The kids in Guadalajara had cake and jell-o as opposed to ice cream.  Now jell-o down there is like the most elaborate layered up stuff you have ever seen.  Absolutely gorgeous.  Very impressive stuff.  When we were in Monterrey every party included corn.  All over Mexico you can buy roasted ears of corn and when you buy it they slather it in mayonnaise, lime juice and powdered chile.  Believe it or don't, this stuff is good.  At the kids' parties the moms all had crock pots full of corn kernels (like frozen corn) with the mayo, lime and chile and served it in cute little paper dixie cups.

I miss doing fun parties.  As we grow up we don't play as much, we don't have theme parties, we get kind of boring and dull, don't we?  I threw a surprise party for my husband when we were living in Guadalajara and we did a big pinata.  It was so much fun.  I am sure our friends who hosted were thrilled to have their shrubs beaten to death by those of us who missed hitting the actual pinata!

Now I am in the mood for cake.  With pretty frosting.  and big pink roses.  and maybe raspberry filling.  Mmmmmm.  You can invite me to anyone's birthday and I will celebrate and be happy even if I don't know the honoree!