You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better. ~ Anne Lamott
Every once in a while, I receive an email at The Office that makes me laugh so hard, I start making sounds only animals can hear and pee I in my pants a little bit too.
I was having one of those days where you swear its a Monday after a long weekend but it is really a Tuesday and you feel like you should be awarded a medal if everyone leaves at 5, alive and head still attached to their body. To go along with that mania, the office crazy pants was on her millionth day in a row where she talks like a four year old girl, turns every conversation into a conversation about her mess of a life, and made the grandiose statement at the weekly department meeting, "I can shower in 14 days." Yes, that happened. My eye roll was equally grandiose and I thought my baby blues were going to roll into my head, carve out a space in my lower brain, and hibernate there for the rest of the winter.
So as I sat on the cube farm, driving my desk, listening to crazy pants cackle like a witch who lost her broom, this gem hit my inbox:
I have the best fucking friends.
Now, make me fucking care.
Recently, I turned 35.
Again.
One of the things I really wanted for my birthday was to be surrounded by my family. The family I have created for myself, not necessarily the family I share DNA with.
Simply put, most of the family that I have that I share a gene pool with are people I really do not like. Addiction, psychosis, insecurity, and general nastiness keep me away. If you are reading this, if we are related, if you have not seen or heard from me in the past year or so... you are, or possess at least one of the four things that started the last sentence. And no, I will not be apologizing for saying that out loud on the internet. Grow up and own your shit.
My birthday dinner party was exactly what I wanted. We had great food I spent all day cooking...
.... pulled chicken sandwiches and potato salad...
... nachos with salsa, sour creme, and pico de gallo guacamole...
... edemame beans and wings...
We also had blue cake with an Alice in Wonderland topper (thank you Pinterest and my sassy Mum who can't stand fondant but still wanted me to have Alice and company atop my blue cake)...
We had sunshine after a day of rain, we had badminton and pink Mohawks. Most importantly, we all had each other; three families that have chose each other, together as one.
And flowers. Do not forget the flowers...
