OCTOBER 1st…
happy birthday to me… happy birthday to me… happy birthday dear shia... happy birthday to me!..
and to nobel peace prize winning president jimmy carter… and to the late musical genius donny hathaway…

the last several weeks have delivered a plethora of percussive punches from the universe. but when the earth is unsettled and axis-changed, and night heat feels arabian, and katrina and rita come for reclamation, i imagine no one is quite at peace. and what’s the moon doing? mercury is not in retrograde… is it? the good thing is that i am finding breath again. and i guess it is all milk for my bones anyway… the storm before the rainbow of a birthday celebration that was this last weekend.

it went a lil something like this…

on friday night, eight of my daughter’s friends came over for the a swim/slumber party she (and my son, by proxy) had organized in honor of my 35th. nothing like a room full of slightly hormonal, extremely attitudinal, possibly premenstrual eight and nine year olds and a taunting, tattling, brooding younger brother to start off your birthday. luckily, though, my birthday and participation in all activities around it was the trump card i whipped from my hip pocket to gain their cooperation whenever things got too out-of-control, which seemed more often than not.

at midnight, one of the girls realized it was officially my birthday and they all gathered around to sing to me, and give me their handmade cards and presents. for those that know me, i’m sure you could have guessed that i was a weeping mess by the end. following a fashion show, the settling of few sibling fights and the movies-on-demand showing of casper, (cuz remember, i got cable now y’all), i forced them to find sleep, despite their desire to meet the light of morning (and dashing their dreams of carrying that badge of honor to the next party… “we stayed up all night!”). by the time all of the parents came to pick them up, my daughter finally found the deep sleep that eluded her in the midst of hosting the party. she missed their goodbyes.

on saturday, my actual birthday, i went for my mani/pedi/facial appointment in the beautiful shop of my friend ola. (i can’t imagine oprah gets better treatment than what ola gave me.) from there, i floated on to the hotel where i got in a hot bath and slept off the glass(es?) of wine ola served as i basked in her pampering.

oh shit! i woke up from my chardonnay-induced slumber at 8:39pm, to realize in a panic that my birthday dinner was scheduled to start nearly 40 minutes prior at austin’s “she-she” downtown chinese bistro, pf changs… without me! i threw on the birthday outfit i’d shopped for all week and strode around the corner to join the gorgeous group of people gathered in my honor! from there, everything about the evening was perfect! the food was exquisite! my friends were simply and beautifully divine! the cherry atop this birthday sundae of perfection was that my birthday fell on saturday... and the party left pf changs to resume at my favorite nightspot, club one15... and dj cut creator was the dj of the night!!! (remember when LLcoolj asked us… “what’s my dj’s name?” and we yelled “cut creator!” yeah, well he lives in austin now and puts it down at club one15 every saturday night.) so, along with the vip section, the champagne and the delectable chocolate cake, cut creator was on the turn tables and i was on the dance floor nonstop til 2:00 when the club closed and we trooped it over to copa for first saturday salsa! by 3am, the last of us headed home and i to my hotel where i passed out in dream-filled sleep, praying i’d wake up there and that it had all been real.

this was by far the best birthday i’ve had since my 30th and i am grateful to all those who made it out to celebrate with me for making it all so unforgettable.