It’s a cold day for a birthday. Being the house person I am, I stayed inside — working, helping Evelyn with her upper- and lowercase writing, and reading my book.
I can’t say my birthday was something for the books — and yet, after a two-mile walk/jog, a call with one of my oldest friends, Jesse, and a family dinner at the gosh-dang best Thai food place ever, it rose up as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
I did feel special — or rather, the day itself felt special. I had multiple longer chats with friends whose warmth feels so toasty when it’s actually stoked like that. It’s been easy to keep those relationships on the back burner, assuming they’ll always be there. But the connection, the conversation, the shared meaning — it hits me in the human-loveliness in a way nothing quite does.
So yeah, I’m feeling really good. Even in spite of Dave shooting down a free kitten from a woman in my book club. After I’d practically adopted it and had it cuddled in my lap, his “no” hit harder than I expected — and I slid into a brief funk slash pity party.
But I’m back now. And there will be another kitten, and another, and eventually I’ll whittle him down to the point where he has no other choice but to say yes. It’s all about the long game, man.
I’m also pretty pumped about this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina. Our loose plans feel more solid after seeing the “Nature Connects: Lego Art Exhibit” at the zoo. Since Dave and Evelyn attend a monthly Lego club with the homeschool co-op, this award-winning traveling exhibit should be a crowd-pleaser. I also love that we’ll have access to the zoo, the gardens, and the sky liner — so much fun on the horizon. I’ll try to keep it a secret to surprise Evelyn with all of it.
Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 