Over the Hill

I celebrated my 50th with some friends and tacos. Jason and I took the day off and spent it my favorite way, running errands together. We stopped for noon Mass and found a friend who took our picture with Mary. Gigi had hidden the birthday ducks for me. I discovered the first one in my coat pocket while we were out. All that frigid day I re-discovered it scrounging for warmth and smiled. If you're interested in context for the cake saying, Gigi was testing my emoji proficiency and one of my responses was 🤡✋👙 resulting in a new reason to tease mom and coined phrase whenever text-ese is misunderstood. Guests were told their presence was present enough, but somehow my fireplace hearth was still laden with cards and treats commemorating my new decade.  My prayer group astounded me with a spiritual bouquet of prayers and fasting and Masses offered for me accompanied by cut pink roses. We then spent the long weekend in Kansas City with the kids. A light blizzard roiled around as we drove through the never ending 70 construction, reinforcing why I rarely travel for my birthday. I called Alex to tell him to join us Saturday instead. We stayed in a historic home near the Crown Center. Highlights included improv games, weedy sea dragons and rays at the aquarium, barbecue at Wolfpack, nostalgia and eyestrain at the toy and miniature museum, Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows, thrifting at City Market, and coffee from an airstream. 

Ben wrote me poetry. I'll share one:

Half a Century

Half a century ago

A lot of things were different

Perhaps things were simpler when the

President was Gerald Ford and internet did not exist so

Yeah a lot can change in half a century

But by far the greatest thing to happen that year

Is in my opinion when the greatest woman I have ever known was born

Really half a century is not nearly enough

Time for a poem to explain all of the way you've filled our 

Hearts and souls with love and joy and every

Day for fifty years you've made the world

A better place and here's to many many more

Years of life

Many people think that half a century is a plenty long time but those who do have

Obviously never met my magnificent and marvelous

Mom

I love you

Other January events thus far include New Years Day at the Mobot Garden Glow, Epiphany door blessing, and Gigi roller skating for the first time. We redeemed the kids scavenger hunt Christmas gift, tickets to The Outsiders at the Fox. I read the book when it was assigned to Ben back in 7th grade but never anticipated the beautiful layer the musical added to the work. 

I was prepared for battle as the new year brought yet again a new health insurance policy and the fine print assured me my medications would be hard fought at great expense and likely lost. Color me astounded that by mid January I had recieved a stack of approval letters and covered meds in the cupboard and I hadn't even yelled "representative!" at any AI bots once. I seriously don't know how this happened but I have a new favorite pharmacist and she deserves flowers. 

Still Cutting My Cakes

Heavenly Roses

Weedy Sea Dragons

The kids were smart and stayed in the car

NYE with Friends