I Must Be Doing Something Right

Today is my birthday, number 44. (Does it make me seem charmingly neurotic or just flat-out insane when I say that having a numerical palindrome for an age makes me very, very happy?) Since N's birth two days after my 37th birthday, these days have become quiet ones, as we gear up for celebrating a little boy who begins looking forward to his special day on January 27th each year. This is fine by me.

And so, today, I've cleared the decks of heavy-lifting work (lots of routine tasks to catch up with, but no research and no writing of complete sentences for a potentially critical audience), and we'll bring dinner in. That's all I need.

Well, that and some presents. Or, rather, the cards that came with the presents.

Baroy's card to me was too cute--a copy of the Time magazine cover (even *I* can't bear to link to it yet again; the tooting of my own horn these days is almost deafening) with "I know I would be sick without you!" on the inside. Hysterical, and very sweet.

But the kids outdid themselves. Em (who recently learned how to use Powerpoint at school), put together a Powerpoint presentation for me, and then printed it out. Here are some excerpts:

What her son thinks about her

• "She's perfect"
• "She's great at everything"
• "She's wonderful when she puts me to bed"
• "She's good at work"
• "She's sweet"
• "She's good at taking Snug for walks"

and

What her daughter thinks of her

• "She's a great friend"
• "She's great to talk to"
• "She is great to go to when I'm feeling blue"
• "She's great to go to for advice"
• "She knows me and all my problems"

OK, so that second one makes it seem like poor Em is constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown, but still...If that isn't the official Cutest Thing Ever, I don't know what is.

Oh, and to top it all off, one of my nephews called me this afternoon to wish me a happy birthday...and we talked! For a long time! This is an 11-year-old boy for whom chatting on the phone has always seemed like some sort of evil torture...and yet, today, he used complete sentences! Sometimes two in a row! It was truly awesome. Seriously. I love that kid to death, and to get a chance to chat with him after not having seen him for a good six months is a huge gift.

So, yeah. 44. A palindrome year filled with notes and conversations and kids I adore. I could do much worse.