warning to readers: i feel a little grouchy today. if you are related to me, proceed with caution.

well, I am sorry to report that the combination of turning 34, and spending an entire week celebrating the fact has resulted in a nasty case of pneumonia in my left lung. what the fuck!?! seems unjust.

i'm kind of over mojitos anyway after the 5 day bender that coincided with the hot weather and important summer holidays. plus, by the end of the night on my birthday i was totally annoyed by the melon bacardi, wished i hadnt wasted the limon bacardi on the previous evening, and really just really wished that i had some plain old original bacardi matched with amazing mojito bartending skills. it was only halfway through the evening when i ran out of aforementioned annoying melon bacardi, which may have more than a little bit to do with why i find it so annoying. i had just been getting really into the spirit of things and was about to do some drunken dancing to hall and oates, when to make matters worse, my freakishly fancy cousin arrived late "just in from fancyland" (dear fancy, sorry you have to take this one for the team, it was just a case of bad timing. but you really should loosen the fuck up because guess what? no one fucking cares!) so note to self for next year: 1.buy lots more rum so that there is zero possibility of running out, vodka too! 2.designate SOMEONE ELSE to be in charge of making the drinks, or better yet, serve beer 3. do not allow freakishly fancy people anywhere near the party.

the party was actually wonderfully fun despite the end results. Ben made a deeeelicious lemon cake. special guest stars like charlie were in town who i love so so dearly, what a treat! i got a few very sweet gifts. and best of all, i had more than a few very sweet laughs with all of my favorite girls. and thank goodness for sangria which seemed to be abundant.

so other than the elephant that is sitting on my left lung, missing babies & big boys play date at cory's cabin, and it being monday,,,things are pretty good. I finally saw Where the Wild Things Are. It was sad but beautiful to watch. Also, I listened to the episode of This American Life called "first contact" that aired a couple of weeks ago. I love to lay in bed at night sometimes and stream TAL like a bedtime story. So this was a few nights ago before I found out that my lung really was trying to kill me, and I was feeling pretty miserable, so I thought Ira Glass could shed some comfort...well, the third story had rather the opposite effect, but was so emotionally heart wrenching, it is about 3 brothers in Iraq and their friend in Virginia. I would highly recommend every asshole in America listen to it and try to put themselves in the shoes of the people within the story for even a moment. They are heavy, blistering shoes, and so far away, but I think we need these blisters to remind us. That's all.