Holy Birthday, Batman!

First, let me make it clear that today's post has nothing to do with Batman. I think.... I never know where I'll end up, though!

Today is my birthday!

• Yea! Birthdays are FUN! Birthdays mean good food, cake, and (in my best Spongebob-with-starry-eyes-voice)..presents! Not to mention the whole notion of having living though another year!
• Boo! Birthdays mean I am one whole year older. The grey in my hair is multiplying. I am in (gulp), the last year of my 30's. Sigh.

Today is a day I share with several other women, who are both examples to me and reminders of all the growing I need to do:

1. My Birthday Buddy, Sondra. She beat me a birthday greeting this morning! Dang it! I thought I would get to her first. She always manages it! Not that it is a race, but I wanted to show her that I remembered and thought about it on my own! Sondra is one of those women who I Want To Be. She always appears calm and patient. She is loving and kind. I am sure she would tell you she has her bad moments, but I feel pretty sure her bad moments are equal to my behavior on a good day! Sondra reminds me to be grateful for all I have, to live each moment with serenity, and to love.
2. A woman I knew growing up, Mrs. Boyd. In spite of her ultra-large family, she seemed to do it all. She was industrious, smart, patient, and kind.  She always seemed to have time for me to come over when I was young, and play and watch her. 
3. Julia Child - my Lil Bro reminded me of this birthday friend today. I have had to imitate her signature voice in vocal exercises (which is a real humility-opportunity, believe me! Nothing like standing at the front of a church and using your "outside" voice to chant Psalm 23 in Julia Child's voice to make you know that you would do just about anything to learn your craft!). My Life in France was such an eye-opener to me. Julia's attitude, her joie-de-vivre, her way of embracing like as an adventure is everything I am not! I am more Squidward than Spongebob, Felix than Oscar, Misty than Ash....well, you get the picture. Every time I cook, and know things are not perfect, I hear her voice in my head, telling me not to apologize for it, but to set it out and eat it up.
4. Mary, Mother of God - okay, so today is not her birthday, but it is the Feast of the Assumption. And there is nothing like sharing your special day with the Blessed Mother! She is the woman par excellence. The human par excellence! 

So, from my birthday friends, I learn:

• patience and thanksgiving (Sondra)
• kindness and smart motherhood (Mrs. Boyd)
• a reminder to live life with joy and gusto (Julia)
• that there is so much more to this life than petty squabbles, material concerns, or even the humiliation of a big fat booty. And I can always ask for help from the Mother who Knows. (Mary).

So, I am off to give a hungry preschooler some lunch. Later I will get to go canter a feastday Mass (but not in Julia Child's voice), then go out to eat at an awesome local restaurant with my men-folk!