Happy 80th Birthday, Mary

My mother-in-law turned 80 on Thursday. We deferred part 1 of her celebration till the weekend as we typically do, so that was our event of the day.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning, shopping and cooking the meal. Its been a LONG time since I said that but I do recall that I used to absolutely love cooking, tested the waters of cooking school with some short courses and just before I found out I was pregnant with Anna, had made a tuition deposit for enrollment the local Culinary Institute of America (CIA! Ha!) affiliate. I got a refund.

Tonight we had Tuscan Roast Pork, Insanely CREAMY and BUTTERY Mashed Potatoes, sauteed broccoli florets with garlic (please note addition to the Noodle consumption list for other intended items...). It was a feast. A really fine meal. I remember that I used to delight in weekend dinners at home before life got so hectic with kids and work. It felt great to have the energy to really get into it rather than just getting through it and just being more tired than when you started...

Part 2 of her celebration will be a night out with Rob at some lovely place of her choosing. If I were her, I'd want more time alone with my son. Especially given how close she came to losing him...

At 80 years of age, she has just recently begun to use hearing aids---her engagement in the world is so dramatically improved. Its funny; she's less cranky. I guess it must be really pissy to not understand a lot of what's happening around you. Of course, she recently had a really close brush with blindness but having straightened that out, the old gal is doing great. I wish her very many more years of enjoying my daughters and my husband and not being any crankier with me than she must... I love my mother-in-law.