cooking up a storm

Yup, I'm already cooking for my party on Saturday. Can you guess what country has inspired me?

Sadie has promised to bring me toast and coffee in the morning. She is getting up extra early. I think birthdays with kids are the best, because they get so happy celebrating everything.

It's funny- looking back over what I've written here the last week, I'm wondering if you all might think that I'm a little looney over the birthday thing. I mean, I've been talking about it all week. What am I, seven?
I'm not always like this.

The last couple of years have been a little bit, well, tumultuous. I've talked about some of that here, but the nutshell version is that I was a feeling like I was undirected, and like I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to be. I have felt restless, almost at the cellular level.

It seems that this happens to a lot of people between the ages of 28 and 30 or so. I'm not exactly sure why, but I have a few ideas on the subject. I won't go into them here- if you're interested you can come over for a cup of tea.

But whoa, nelly, you get used to one feeling and then things change, and all of a sudden, I feel calmer. I seem to have figured out where I'm supposed to be. Who knows where I'll be on the eve of my 32nd birthday, but who cares, I'm just thankful for now.

So you'll have to forgive me if I'm spilling over with optimism this week. Birthdays have always been a time that I pause and take stock. Often, that has not been such a good experience. But this year, I'm feeling pretty good.

Thanks for being here with me. More food tomorrow.