Suzapalooza

For your 34th birthday I highly recommend:


Have your daughter pick out an item she desperately wants (a travel manicure set in a kicky little purple holder), pay for it herself, wrap it herself, and selflessly give it you.

If this should happen, make a big deal out of it.

And allow her to show you how each individual piece functions. If necessary, allow her to cut off some of your skin to demonstrate the matching purple nail scissors.

Oh, and give her a giant kiss.

I also recommend getting tough new biking gloves so you can make this face:

and people will still laugh at you, but just a tad bit less if you're wearing the gloves.

And when Maya tires of the unwrapping and the whole focusing-on-someone-other-than-me things, just let her go get her pacifier fix in your bed, whilst she whines and carries on about needing someone to snuggle with, and try not to let it ruin the mood.

When she finally comes out, let her try on your stuff.


Also remember that, although 5 year olds can keep some secrets for a while, eventually they will bust. Case in point: I had told Sandi a week before my birthday in a text that she could always get a Garmin (GPS watch for running) for the runner she loves. I heard no more and didn't really think it would be likely. The morning of my birthday (observed, a day later than the actual since I worked) I told the girls the only thing I wanted for my birthday was for them to not fight. An hour later, readying to open gifts, they started in with the bickering.

"What was the only thing I asked for for my birthday?" I inquired.

"A Garmin watch," Ella responded.

This is my "no you ditn't" look. Ella even faked me out and pretended all the gifts were gone and then pulled it out like a magician doing a trick.

But back to my recommendations:

Surround yourself with people you love, in a place that you love. (Kendalls, Merrill-Maguires, and Tia you were sorely missed.)

In fact, liter the beach your people.

This year, Matt dubbed my Schoodic birthday party "Suzapalooza." It goes without saying that this pleased me to no end. We've discussed t-shirts and live music for next year.

If you're really lucky, get yourself a great girl.

And tell all your awesome people, who happen to all be great cooks, to each bring something for the table...

...and sit on the deck by the lake and savor each bite. After all, it is your birthday.

Have Sandi make you some of this yummy chocolate zucchini cake with peanut butter frosting (or some of the smores pie Ange made) and have all your people sing you "happy birthday" in 5 part harmony (thank you Patti, a pleasure as always.)

Now this is a big IF, but if at all possible, get people to come in costume.

I'm not sure what Brevan was, but I know Reed was Spiderman (and I love this picture of Skyler looking like a sullen teenager.)

If you have any extra energy and the sugar high hits you just right, try some log rolls down the beach.

I'm not entirely sure why, but this may require you to plug your nose.

And, naturally, if you get really tired from all the fun, you can just go down to the dock and pass out- oops! I mean take a nap.

One of my clients asked me how old I was on my birthday. When I told her 34 she said, "Oh, the prime of your life."

"Really?" I asked, a bit incredulously. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're old enough to have gained some wisdom and young enough to be healthy."

The prime, huh?

Well, I'm old enough to know to appreciate each and every person I love, to not care so much what people think, to know my own worth, to be unburdened with worry enough to dream big and reach high and to embrace my life in all of its shades. I am young enough to run, to play, to keep up with our kids, to run a marathon and think about another and to spin a life full of love.

Cheers to the prime!