Gaffes & Gratitudes: Birthday Edition

It's my birthday, folks.  I have continued the tradition of traveling for my birthday that I started when I was 30.  This year, I am with my family in Colorado.

Tonight we had wine, pasta, roasted broccoli, salad and Boston cream pie.  Never been a big fan of Boston cream pie, but it looked delicious in the bakery case with the inch of fudgey chocolate frosting on top.  I was not wrong.  It will make a delicious breakfast tomorrow.

While the gaffes have been plentiful over the last couple of weeks, I feel that I should revel in the gratitudes today.  Some days I feel so much older than I really am -- that too much "life" has been packed into these three measly decades.  But, I am grateful for the perspective and the wisdom, and I know they will serve me and hold me up as I continue to walk this life.

gratitudes 

• "The Humpty Dance" in my car on a sunny morning drive to work.  Digital Underground may not have stood the test of time, but you can't deny it's a damn catchy tune.

• The perfect bag of oranges from Trader Joe's.  Seriously, every orange was delicious.

•  The return of Joan Holloway, her amazing dresses and the hips that fill them out.  Go on, girl!

• Real cookbooks, with bent pages and cooking splatters.  Just not the same on a Kindle.

• Salads that don't have the tough, yucky lettuce stems in them; it's rabbit food.  Keep it out of my Caesar.

• My first Orange Bang.   I think I had diabetes for 10 minutes after consumption, but it tasted like an orange creamsicle and laughter.

• Walton Goggins on Justified.  Don't think I'll ever root for a backwoods, religiously conservative, neo-Natzy, criminal mind the way I do for him.  

• The note from our neighbor admitting she hit our car as she pulled into the parking garage.  Bonus for being honest and forthcoming.  Double bonus that our car is so beat up, we couldn't tell where the damage was.

• Finally figuring out what's been up with Alice B.'s belly this past week (pancreatitis) and having pet insurance to make sure she gets the treatment she needs.  Without it, there may have ceased being a Beefus.

• That D.R. was a rock when the vet explained how a dog is treated for pancreatitits while I just sobbed.  I don't do well when animals are in pain. 

• An evening of (too much) wine and early birthday presents around a familiar and loving dining room table after a tough week.  New baking dishes will always set you right again.  Is that just me?  Weird.

• The mountains of Colorado.  Every time I come back, my soul is stirred a bit.  I love California, but I am tied to this land, for sure.  

• The familiar and comforting feeling of driving a large dirty truck with mud on the tires and utility gloves on the dash.  You can take the girl out of the 4x4 . . .  

• This sweet little sleeping face.  Kinda want to smooch those rosy cheeks all day long. 

A rare moment of stillness to snap a quick iPhone pic.