Mamie's Birthday

Thursday was Mamie’s birthday – I won’t reveal her age because I don’t know how she feels about that. It was also my brother’s (GoodGuy) 62nd birthday – I can say his age with impunity as not only is he on the other side of the country but he’s a guy and guys don’t care about stuff like that.

We had our requisite family birthday dinner on Friday. The birthday person gets to dictate the menu. Mamie chose green salad, teriyaki London broil cooked on the grill by GolfGuy and sliced thin, BIG baked potatoes (no dinky ones from the 5 and 10 lb. prepackaged grocery store bags), green beans with bacon (because I insisted on a REAL vegetable), and Peaches ‘N Cream Cake. Good choices all.

On one of our Walmart trips, I spotted some “giant bubble wands” in various colors. Because she is the birthday girl and is **-going-on-11, I selected a purple one for her – purple being her favorite color. I briefly pondered purchasing 2 additional ones for Bubby and Pi, but decided against it. They are old enough to accept the fact that it IS the birthday person who gets the gifts – and if they don’t accept that, it’s time they learned. But on a subsequent Walmart trip, I came across little paddle ball toys in the party favor aisle and since there were 4 in a package, 2 packages for the 8 of us went into the cart.

As mentioned yesterday, GolfGuy was doing poorly indeed. He did manage to get the grill lit and the meat on before retreating once again to his sick bed. Igor tended the meat and did the slicing honors, which he did very well. The food was all very good, and those of us who were able to eat stuffed ourselves liberally.

One of the biggest treats was that Mrs. Igor was in attendance. Her work schedule has been such that for many months now she has been unable to join us when we have family dinners. She has been sorely missed, and we need to find a way to schedule these get-togethers so she can be a part of them.

I have been dancing around the fact that I have a daughter who has reached this advanced age, an important decade mark in life. On one hand, I feel great joy about the wonderful person she has become. On the other hand, I wonder how on earth I could have a child that old – and who the hell is that old bag looking back at me in the mirror every morning?