29, Going on 40

Indeed, 'tis the season to celebrate my birth and bemoan my huge dreams as yet unmet. At the new age of 29.

A Tale From My Past, When I Was Still Young

One fine day, my good friend D2 grabbed me and a few day's worth of clothes (as well as her fine husband), and brought me to spend a long weekend with her family in the Pocono mountains. We stopped first at her parent's home, where her mom packed the car to the brim with scrumptious Polish food and her husband stood agog at the amount of edibles we were expected to consume over the weekend. Then, not having exchanged more than four words to me that weren't in the form of a brusk command, her mom asked me what I had accomplished in my life.

Not a question I had anticipated, and I floundered through my memories to figure out what was worth putting in that category. I settled on telling her that I had formed important and enriching relationships with good friends and family.

That's probably still the major "accomplishment" in my life. But there are other accomplishments to celebrate, to be sure:

List of Accomplishments To Round Off My 20s...as I head for my 40s:

1. Consistently failing to remember what flights I'm on, when, and from what airport. This includes my having to rush off a South Carolina-bound flight just before take-off, having intended to board a Florida-bound one. And my fastest-ever packing job as I rushed to leave the house in 15 minutes having just discovered that my 1:15pm flight was a flight of fantasy; the flight was scheduled for 11:05am. I packed an odd selection of clothing in the dark. I don't recommend it to others.

2. Continuing a fine tradition of creating mishapen cakes and deserts for my friends, allowing them to sample cuisine that looks like it's taken a serious beating from life. My "Sweet Gunk" tiramisu, "Chocolate Frittata Crunch," and "Cheese Fluff Crater" probably take the cake. So to speak. And then my dear friend Shannon reminded me last night of my truffles. That experiment did result in some good quality chocolate, but also in an odd assortment of chocolate fingerprints throughout the house, in the most weird places...doorways, mirrors, walls...who knew I touch the house so much as I flit through it.

3. Caring for my friends and family. Like when I misheard a "tea: peppermint" request of a sick friend, and brought her "cheese" and lozenges. I recommended she toss the cheese in hot water and call me in the morning. And then there was the time when I bought my aunt a selection of gifts from Houston, and accidentally threw them (and their plastic bag) in the trash chute and gave my aunt the bag of garbage. Poor woman.

5. Sharing good times with good people. On my birthday, a friend and I snuck a bottle of wine into a Brooklyn cafe and later the movie theater, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Even the part where we scrambled on the darkened movie floor, trying to find the bottle that had rolled away. And then there was the cheese extravaganza at my DC friends' place, ensconced with warm and lovely people. And the Cambodian feast in Texas. And the French soirree with my Ohio pals the other night. But any time with the peeps is good time.

Yup. I'm doing the math again, and still the most important thing in my life is my friends and family. Thanks for making 28 a great year! I think 29 will be even better. :)

*love*