thirty-five

today's the day i turn thirty-five. the big three-five. i'm not sure why, but thirty-five was more ominous to me than thirty. perhaps because i am now thismuch closer to forty. FORTY. oy.

in spite of that little thing called my fear of aging, it was a wonderful day. first off, we received good reports from vermont. susanna is to be moved out of the icu as soon as a room becomes available. after work last night, peter stopped by to visit her, and said that she was looking one hundred times better and that her spirits were much higher. both very good things. my mom is going to take the boys to see her tomorrow.

this past weekend, i celebrated my birthday with my family, which was a bittersweet time. with mom in vermont and worries about susanna, there was a tinge of sadness, but it was good for all of us to be together, if not for my birthday, just to be together.

today, several of my friends and colleagues wished me well in their own special ways: a delicious lunch at campeche (thanks, melissa!); a "gift card," hand-written on a post-it note, good for dinner with megan after the craziness of the holidays has subsided; a virtually uneditable document wishing me, "marie-ann", a "hApPY,birzDay", compliments of my boss, the lovely lilian; and a sweet holiday ornament and cute card from co-worker melissa. not to mention the ecards and phone calls i received from many other friends and family members.

in addition, david's (and now my) niece and nephew, emily and nathan, called me from michigan to wish me a happy birthday and to tell me, after nathan stepped on a blue inkpad and tracked footprints on the carpet in emily's room, that he stepped in "unk." and i received my first birthday card "for my wife." talk about a memorable moment!

meaning no disrespect to all of these wonderful friends and family, i must share with you one of the top birthday wishes of today, left on my phone by isaak:

the snow continued to fall today, which normally would bug me. but i walk to work now, so who cares? i kid. sort of. david and i went to our favorite spot, tre kronor, for a quiet dinner for two, followed by a viewing of roxanne, one of my christmas gifts from my aunt and uncle. gotta love steve martin (unless you're david, but it's my birthday, so he lovingly agreed to watch it).

photo taken on the one-year anniversary of our engagement,
but could just as easily have been taken tonight.

i am so blessed in so many ways. even if i am thirty-five.