"That's a great shirt"

I received my first-ever compliment from a Menomonie mom I've never met today regarding my "I make milk, what's your super power?" t-shirt! She even giggled a bit. Woo hoo!

And I will post a bit about my fun birthday party another night, when I'm not so pooped. Will someone please tell me where my energy went?

Which god?

L: What was there before there was earth?

Me: Gas, space, suns, stars.

Thoughtful silence.

Me: But Christians believe that God created the earth. And the whole world. Other people think it was created by goddesses, or other gods.

L: Which one?

Me: Which god?

L: Yeah.

Me: Smiles. Christians only belive there is one god.

L: But there really is more than one. Giggles.

Me: Other religions teach that there is only one god, too.

L: But we don't believe that. What religion are we?

Me: None. I worship the earth.

L: Hm.

Birthday Eve

I'm so pleased to inform you that people are actually planning on showing up to my party. Guess I'll have to actually clean house now... So tomorrow I am officially 37, and I will eat yummy pierogis with my friends and good acquaintances. Let's hope that the weather holds, the kids stay chill, and the food never runs out.

Speaking of food, the deer ate the three growing tomatoes at the top of my elberta girl plant the other morning. Just what they could nibble through my crazy barricade: plastic "flags" dangling from two-tiered twine above the chicken wire fence, and lawn chairs strategically placed around the perimeter for the best effect. It's kept them out of the garden enough that the bush beans are going on a second round of flowering (!), and the tomatoes are producing a lot of flowers. The plants also love the compost I added recently. Plus, the bees finally found my zucchini, and I've got a few growing as I write this post. Aha!

Can't wait to show you pictures of my giant sunflowers, too. Will take some soon and share. In the mean time, you can enjoy this one of the girls yelling in sync.

Party, by a landslide

Thanks for everyone's advice about the party. I have definitely decided to throw myself a big ol' birthday Open House, and I think Tata is going to dress up, and maybe I'll even wear my very tall boots! L. will be making my cake (love to you, woman), we'll be making easy party food PLUS Chris is going to try to make....pierogis. I am psyched!

Now all that needs to happen is for you all to show up. Ahem.

And if you are among the minions who live thousands of mile away from Mama, please know you are always welcome to visit and while away the day with me and my young'ns any time you please (with at least a little advance notice).

Even if you're not going to be here, drink something tasty for me and send me an email on my birthday, scalawag. It's only 4 days away...

party or pirate acts, you decide

Well things here in menomonie are settling and unsettling.

First and foremost, I'm turning 37 in about 2 weeks. We were trying to find something to do that felt like a vacation for me - looking for a cabin to huddle in, thought about camping (no way with a shrieking baby), driving to a lodge and charging rooms on my credit card, etc. However, none of that has really come through. Today I asked Lola what she thought I should do on my birthday and she suggested a party. Voila! Perhaps I will. It's been ages since *I've* had a party, and it would be very nice to have people stop in for a while and be nice to me on purpose.

See, the last week or so has been pretty stressful, imbalanced. Nothing I've touched seems to have worked right. At first I thought Mercury was retrograde (communication stuff), but that's not it. I'm just feeling a bit less confident and self-assured. And when that happens, I'm more likely to be defensive or short-tempered or prone to crying or just plain cranky. Luckily I have a delightfully understanding partner who will listen to me talk about how I feel off and offer support unconditionally. I understand that this, too, shall pass, but I might just be ready for some people to remind me of who I am and forget all that other crap by just showing up to wish me a happy birthday. But in the midst of my funk, I'm afraid that no one will show up, and which would be worse, no one coming by or simply not throwing the party? I'm willing to take that chance, but because we don't have many friends in real life locally, this could be a bust. It could be fun, but it could also be a total flop. And would I have to make my own cake?

Readers, what do you think? Should I throw myself a party or find something else that's fun to do just with my family, like rent a pontoon boat and commit increasingly drunken pirate acts on the unwary boaters of Lake Menomin?

On a brighter note, Chris's writing gig might pay! And how cool is that? I mean, I knew he was a super cool pirate papa, but now the rest of the world will, too. Hooray for Rad Dad, the zine, for recognizing Chris as the star he always was.