My brother just had a birthday.   

 

A big one.  The big 4-0.

It makes me think.

He has been my best friend for most of my life (all but the first year or so!).

The one person who can share almost all of my  memories back through 10 houses, lots of moves, births, marriages and deaths, friends, campouts--and camp songs, embarrassing stories--everything.

When his voice changed, and he learned that he loved to sing, he talked me into singing the high parts on every song with a good bass line (specifically, "Blue Moon"--the Marcels version, and "Under the Boardwalk"and "Elvira", along with a few others) so he could do the "down low parts".  His love of singing and his guitar playing inspired his friends, siblings and cousins, and created quite a few new musicians.

He has always been bold and daring, and ready for new adventures.

He can quote a movie perfectly after watching it once.

He is the world's best dyer of Easter eggs (seriously, he made a plaid egg one year using only standard egg dye and masking tape).
The best perpetrator of clever April Fools pranks.
The best carver of Jack O'lanterns (although his younger brothers are also pretty darn awesome in the "Uncle Arts"!).

He has the most incredibly mobile face--so expressive, so flexible--only Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor can do it justice.  And--as more than one person who ended up snorting liquid out their nose can attest, an amazing sense of humor, genius level comedic timing, and super expressive eyebrows.

Now there are a lot of miles between us, but I still love him just as much, think about him, quote him and look for things that would make him laugh.

So--little brother,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO A GUY WHO IS STILL 
(AS ALWAYS) 
TRULY 
OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELD!

40th Birthday!

I had a great birthday! It wasn't a wildly exciting day--took LargeBoy to an Order of the Arrow Lodge Meeting, took SmallDaughter and the Wonderdog with us to Walmart, got to talk to all the dog lovers who need to tell the person who has their dog with them in the store all about their dog(s), and all about the amazing things they can train dogs to do now (which always happens when I go out with SD & the WD!).

We came home and I fixed a big pot of Corn and Bacon Chowder, and then a few friends came over for a cutthroat game of Michigan Bankroll. I think this is a game that has evolved within our family confines (it is similar to Skip-bo, with increasingly difficult rounds of sets and runs,but sneakier rules!). I had a stellar opening, and then lost, but not horribly!

My dear Aunt A made two pans of her amazing brownies (one with nuts, one without) and a batch of homemade caramel nut frosting (like you put on German Chocolate cake) for them. HEAVEN!

Life List

For my birthday, I decided to make a Life List.
I looked at a lot of other peoples lists, which is almost as fun as going to Real Estate showings ("really, they chose that?!! I would never choose that!" or "OOH, I LOVE what they did with that!"). I recommend it.

Some of the things I have already done. Some require lots of repetition. Some I may never do. I am fairly certain this list will not stay at 100 items. My life is like that!



1. Skinny dip at under a full moon. (Note to self—Labor Day in Idaho is TOO DANG COLD.)
2. Get a spinning wheel, learn to spin wool into yarn. (Got the wheel, still working on the spinning).
3. Learn to knit.
4. Knit a “naked girl length” (just to the tips of my fingers, like when a short girl wears her husbands shirt) pure wool Aran sweater-—for myself.
5. Go to an outdoor Bazaar in Turkey. (Note to self, while there, go to Pamukkale the “Cotton Castle”)
7. Eat food from street vendors Ongoing!
8. Get a stamp in my passport. 04/2004 (Note to self: This was awesome—do it MORE!)
9. Touch something 1000 years old. 04/2004
10. Drive across the US by myself. 09/2008 (well, I was the only driver, I had lots of small children with me).
11. Learn how to change a tire. (I can do it, but prefer not to.)
12. Learn how to change the oil. (ditto.)
13. Make a Kentucky Derby hat. I wouldn't mind going to the race, either, but mostly I just want to make the hat--so let me know if you are planning to go, and need headwear, ok?
14. Sew a Wedding Dress. (I have sewn at least 3 at this point)
15. Fluently speak another language. 1993--Spanish
16. Visit Manhattan, Eat pizza in NYC, ride the subway. 01/2012
17. Watch the Manti Pageant 1998
18. Watch the Nauvoo Pageant.
19. Watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant.
20. Visit 50 Temples. (19 as of 2012)
21. Write a novel. Get it published. (In progress. Darn typing!)
22. Notice the beauty in every day.
23. Write my will.
24. Donate my body to science. 2011 (Case Western Reserve Medical School).
25. Cross the Canadian Border. (Done, but I can't remember the year!)
26. Face my deepest fears. (Went Rappeling--both down a cliff and free fall, went caving. Don’t ask me about crickets.)
27. Have a mug of the best hot chocolate in the world at Angelina’s in Paris.
28. See the Pieta, and the Bernini sculpture of Daphne and Apollo in Rome.
29. Have an exceptional time in Greece.
30. Lay on the beach at sunset.
31. Wade in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Done, but enjoyed it so much, I would be more than happy to continue!
32. Get married in the Temple. 09/1995
33. Sleep out under the stars. (In the most beautiful place, with the least light pollution, and the most, close stars--aah).
34. Learn how to make French Onion Soup. MY 2010

35. Hand Letter a wedding Invitation. 1999
36. Go to the Public Baths in Budapest.
37. Throw really good parties.
38. Visit every US state – 35/50. Driving through counts. Only seeing the airport doesn’t.
39. Participate in a reenactment.
40. Give a speech.
41. Teach a class. 2010, and it was great, hope to do more!
42. Become a Grief Therapist.
43. Get my Bachelors Degree. (note to self, figure out what you want to be when you grow up).
44. Spend a whole day cruising the shops in the Garment District in New York.
45. See the Statue of Liberty, Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Monuments. 2003
46. See the Grand Canyon. 1994
47. Go to Mesa Verde. 1992
48. Decorate my children’s weddings—awesomely!
49. Go to the Jane Austen costume Museum in Bath.04/2004
50. Choose and cut our own Christmas Tree. Yay--this has become a yearly tradition since 2001
51. Stand inside the Taj Mahal.
52. Host a wedding in my yard.
53. Give each of the people I love a perfect gift. (Ongoing--so far, my sister Alison is the easiest!).
54. Have beautiful art in my home.
55. Make my home a peaceful reflection of myself and my family.
56. Get married in my mother’s wedding dress. 09/1995
57. Learn how to use power tools. Ongoing--I love it, and want to improve!
58. Own 50 Library Cards. (21 as of 2012)
59. Be in better shape at 50 than I was at 30.
60. Read 100 Classic books...Hmmm it is interesting to try and find a list. There are several. Some of the "classics" I really hate, so do I include those or not? Also, some are just included because they are in the public domain, and are cheap to get access to. I am working on my own list.
61. Make a list of 50 favorite foods.
62. Start an annual event. 2001, established a quarterly blood drive in my Mother's honor--it is ongoing.
63. Visit the Holy Land.
64. Get a real year’s supply.
65. Start a Gratitude Journal.
66. Do a life changing project for people in another part of the world.
67. Take the sleeper train through Europe
68. Make a baked brie and roasted garlic.
69. Be completely debt free.
70. Attend a Broadway Show.
71. Attend a Seder.
72. Get my home beautifully decorated enough to be in the Christmas parade of homes.
73. Have a ladies-only tea party in the garden where we all wear dresses and eat edible flowers on our food. (It was great! Sometime around 1990, but I would love to do it again!)
74. Attend an opera. Cossi Fan Tutti, 1992
75. Go to Prince Edward Island.
76. Go to a Renaissance Faire. 2011
77. See at least one Shakespeare play at a Shakespeare festival (ideally, in Stratford Ontario). Visit the costume department, if possible.
78. Go to Muskoka, and see the islands (and if you haven't read The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery, get off the computer, and go do it right now!).
79. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon.
80. Take a Yoga class.
81. Ride on an Elephants back.
82. Become a Servas Host family.
83. Cook a meal entirely made of food I raised.
84. Visit the US Capitol and/or the White House.
85. Paint in Italy.
86. Send a message in a bottle.
87. Eat fish & Chips from a takeaway in London. 2004--YUMMY!
88. Write a poem. Ongoing.
89. Set someone else’s poem to music. (done--"Indwelling, by George Herbert)
90. Read in a French café.
91. Learn to play boogie-woogie and ragtime on the piano.
92. Have a beautiful guest room.
93. Be someone’s mentor.