50th Birthday

I guess the lack of sleep on the night of the party caught up with me because I fell asleep in a chair early this afternoon. While I was fast asleep, my husband also took a nap on the other side of the house. We woke up bleary-eyed, as if we hadn't slept at all last night.

Everyone is still talking about the party.... they all enjoyed the music and the food, and I can still picture all of our friends snaking around the house in an impromptu "Conga Line." Such fun..... and now my husband is wondering what we'll do for next year's Christmas party. Gee.... I wonder if Barry Manilow would like to come here and play holiday songs on my piano. (From my lips to the piano-god's ears.)

Today is my husband's 50th birthday.... I surprised him with some new books I found on Buddha and the Dalai Lama, both subjects which he's been interested in for the past few years. I also bought a beautiful Tibetan statue called Serenity.... a very peaceful goddess resting her head on her hands as she sits upright. When the package arrived, thankfully on a day when my husband was at work so he couldn't see how big this was, I started planning what to change on the wall unit in the TV room so we could give this goddess a proper resting place.

The wall unit in that room is filled with my husband collection of books and memorabilia.... baseball items, music CDs, "Orange County Choppers" DVDs--- all things "guy," with not a doily in sight, which was my promise when we gave that room a makeover. Yesterday, while my husband was at work, I rearranged everything on those shelves to make it neater and more cohesive-- baseball stuff all together, Corvette stuff all on one shelf, music and DVDs snuggled together on the smaller shelves, books of similar subjects all together. All of that left a tall narrow shelf empty for Serenity. Right close to the goddess's new home, I arranged all of my husband's Tibetan books and the small Buddhas, as well as the Tibetan bells I bought him last year for his birthday.

I left a note on the empty shelf which read: "This space under construction.... to be completed on 12/12/05." When he came home last night, of course he noticed the new, neater, (more improved) arrangement. "You moved my stuff around?" Yes, I did.... and I told him to read the "under construction" note and said that he would understand it all in just a matter of hours. With that, he picked up his Tibetan bells and rang them, saying "Serenity now." I suggested to him that he keep that thought in mind for his birthday morning.

My husband is a stickler for birthday-dates.... he opens not a card or a gift before the actual day of the birthday or holiday. (Unlike my sister and I, who tear into our packages one by one over the phone, starting on the first of December.)

Anyway......... after breakfast this morning, my husband opened all of his cards and gifts, and then I brought him into the TV room for a look-see. I had covered the goddess with gift-wrap, and when my husband peeled the paper away, there was Serenity, resting comfortably on her shelf at the center of the wall unit.... and looking very calm and peaceful in her new home. (And probably very thankful to be taken out of the hiding place in my closet.)

My husband loved the goddess, and understood why I had to rearrange all of his books and mementos to accommodate her. With the goddess at the center of the wall unit, instead of the plastic James Brown statue which was there before, the entire room has taken on a new personality. Sadly, the James Brown and the Louis Armstrong statues are now in a closet, but I will take them out for parties and for New Year's Eve. (James Brown sings "I Feel Good!" and Louis Armstrong sings "It's a Wonderful World" and "Hello Dolly.")

Thankfully, Serenity just rests there with her head on her hands and sings not a word. (No offense to James Brown, but I was getting pretty tired of hearing "I Feel Good!" every time my husband beat me at "Scrabble.")