sprung

It's official - spring is here! It's easy for me to keep track of the vernal equinox, with it being my birthday and all. And my husband's birthday. And his twin brother's birthday. Sharing a birthday can be a bummer, but I won't elaborate on that now because so far this one has been a-ok. The three of us get together every birthday and have supper, taking turns from year to year on who pays or cooks. This year we'll be going out to one of our favorite restaurants for a meal that's already making my mouth water: macadamia encrusted halibut stuffed with king crab. That makes my frosted mini wheats breakfast feel pretty unsubstantial sitting in my tummy.

What else for today? Well, some family drama last night. In a nutshell, the dear husband ticked off his little nephew at a family gathering a few months ago. We thought that all was fine and forgotten since the tears had been replaced by laughter by the end of the night. Imagine our surprise when he opened his birthday card and saw that, along with the b-day wishes, the 7 year old wrote: You're a devil you made me cry happy birthday NOT!

I'll spare you the details of what followed (from virtually EVERY one of my in-laws). But here are my feelings on the subject - as parents, why on earth would you send that card? If the kiddo was really that upset by it, why didn't his folks get in touch with us sooner to address it? Or, better yet, use it as a teaching opportunity for him to learn that holding onto anger and frustration isn't healthy? There has been something weird between my husband and this particular brother (the boy's father) for years. It seems pretty clear to me that this is an issue between the two of them and it has nothing at all to do with the kid.

Enough on that - at least it brought some tough topics to light for the family. And we'll certainly remember this birthday. The card, however, is covered in coffee grounds at the bottom of the trash can. It didn't even make it to the recycling bin.

This doesn't mean I'm having an unhappy birthday - not at all. So far I have just lounged, drank a lot of coffee, caught up on my favorite blogs, and planned a long dog walk. Which is what I'm about to do.