The party is done for BG. She had fun, and so did all her friends. We held the party at a local rollerskating rink, it’s a place that I went to as a kid, and it’s in some kind of time warp.

We had about 10 or 15 kids, and lots of skating and falling-down was done by all. Plus lots of pizza eating (for the non-allergy people, and followed by hand-washing), and lots of cake eating.

The cake is a fun(ish) story. We made a white cake and a chocolate cake Friday night. And the white cake was fine, but the chocolate cake not so much - more like a brown brick. I planned to make another after diner, but I whacked my foot and it was iced and painful until I fell asleep a little after 3am. Then we tried to make another chocolate cake, but the oven wouldn’t preheat. The oven, she is broken. I kn has sadness. However, my mom brought cupcakes and all was right with the cake-and-party world.

BG was so happy with her party, and so glad that most of her friends could come. It was great to see cousins playing with eachother including cousins from opposite sides of the family! A nice mix of relatives and friends. I thought my dad was going to have a heart-attack, though, from all the bouncing around happening to the kids! He gets nervous they’ll get injured. I just cross my fingers and hope for no (serious) injuries.

We left here a little after 12, and came home around 4:30. I was wiped out and laid down for a nap a bit after 6. I woke up 16 hours later. that was a good nap!

Now to start worrying about MG’s birthday next month…

I hope all of you had a wonderful mother’s day!

On Friday afternoon Jack was giving Ra a hard time, so I was separating them. Stupidly, I did so with my hands. Ra accidentally nipped me, and even though it’s a tiny cut, it whacked a nerve. So until now my thumb on my left hand was basically useless. It’s a bit better, but not a ton, so I’m going to the doctor tomorrow. wheee! I think it’s been a couple months since I was last there!

I had a lovely mother’s day with sleeping in, a great bbq linner made by my step-dad, visits with my mom & step-mom, and general rest & chatting. My brother was visiting, which was a lot of fun for everyone. He grew a mustache, and now suddenly looks so much like my dad. It’s surprising.

It’s great to feel special, isn’t it? Of course, sleeping in and having meals cooked for you is a day in the life of many of the people in this house, but ah well. No pictures from Mother’s day - no new camera yet.

MG and I have become very lucky. Last week the lovely jimiyo asked if he could sketch one of the girls from the innumerable pictures on flickr. I agreed and if you look here, you can see the sketch of MG in progress.

If you want to pick up some of jimiyo’s designs, you can buy:

Lovely women’s shirts at etsy
• Life, ’tis Precious, which has some wonderful detailing
• Revelations, which has a gorgeous lion

Meanwhile, I was chatting with some of the designers last night, and one of the designers, cho, made a quick sketch of me based on this picture! I was a bit embarrassed at the attention, but it’s really cool!

If you, like me, are impressed with his designs, you can pick up 3 shirts by cho this weekend:

• My favorite, as I’m partial to water/beachy designs, Treacherous Waters

• Reminder of childhood, Duck Hunt
• Fun with video games and the alphabet, Alpha Battle

They’ve both got entries in this week’s shirt.woot Derby, where the theme is “Revolution”.

It’s been gorgeous here lately! The sun is too bright for me to work on the laptop outside, even!

And why are we outside all day? Well, BG got an incredible bike for her birthday, so BG and MG are riding all around the neighborhood, and exploring with some friends. The bike has gears and shocks, and is just a wonderful bike for her to ride on roads, grass, or trails.

The older girls have also started to take their bikes down to the playground, and play with the other kids in the area. I follow on my scooter with LG and at least one dog, and we hang out. It’s great!

I have to be careful about sunburns, though - the first day on the beach I got burned.

Sadly, my camera isn’t working, but my mom was nice enough to take a few pictures, including two of MG scaling the rock wall and BG climbing the rock wall. They both climbed to the top the first time! We’ll have to go back soon, they loved it. I’m hoping LG is tall enough to join them soon!

So, what’s been up with you while I’ve been distracted by the nice weather?

edited: because I mis-typed a link, making it all go wonky

There is much rejoicing here!

Not only has spring sprung, but there’s great news. While spring had a bit of a setback today (it’s cold and dreary), our hearts are lighter. My friend’s son has been sick for the past 6 weeks, and I have written about him before. We were really, really worried about him.

Today I found out that he has a diagnosis, and it is just an infection that will pass. He (like me) has unusual symptoms when he gets sick, so they were going from one specialist to another. It’s wonderful to have not only an answer, but an answer that means he will get back to “normal” relatively soon. Phew!

I guess I need to switch to worrying about us again, now.

When I think of myself, I picture myself when I was about 21-22. When I look at my pictures from college (and some from high school), I don’t think I look very different now. When I see people I knew back then, though, sometimes the changes are startling.

If you were my friend in high school, and now you’re almost bald, it makes me feel old!

Today I don’t feel old, I feel happy. I ran into a friend from my high school days, but not from high school, and she looked exactly like she did back then! I was in Ala-teen as a teenager, and had some wonderful, special, incredible friends that were spread out along the North Shore in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, due to the anonymity piece of Ala-teen, I rarely knew people’s last names. Which makes it hard to find them again if you move back to the area!

I don’t remember the last time I left the grocery store so happy! I was so excited to have seen my old friend, met her two adorable little boys, BG had helped me shop, and then as a bonus my friend is in touch with several of our other friends from that time. It really feels like it was only yesterday even if it was 20 years ago, and it’s so nice to be around someone who knew me pre-kids!

This is one time warp that’s a good thing. It’s great that BG & MG made a new friend this week, and then I found an old friend this week. I’m crossing my fingers that the good luck trend continues for next week!

Happy birthday to me! I’m 37 today. Wow.

We carted off two loads of crap to the dump (or, we loaded the van twice, B and BG drove and dumped). Our spring and fall cleaning sprees are almost complete!

The cupcakes and cake are cooling, and we’re off to a cousin’s birthday party in a little bit.

Today is a great day for counting blessings. I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

Best quote for today so far: from LG, “When I’m a grownup I want to be just like you, Mommy! Except for the brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, and pain.” heh