What a Difference a Year Makes

A few weeks ago I turned another year older. My birthday used to be a day of great celebration (and after age 21, on many occasions, the day preceding a lot of pain). Now it seems to be a mix of celebration and realization. This year I realized that this is my last year as part of the target demographic for TV advertisers. And in two years, I'll have to start checking off another category on most surveys and be in a new age group for races. Getting older is no surprise. I knew that I was getting "old" when I started thinking that kids look far too young to me to be able to drive when they're 16 or to move out and go to college when they're 18. This year and my eventual movement into new marketing categorizations made the unavoidable process of aging just a bit less fun. (Insert big sigh here.)

Okay drama aside, my birthday was really fabulous. First and foremost, it was bizarre to think about where we were a year ago. Last year, I was really really hoping that my birthday present would be getting news that I could be Jaisal's donor. Although we were thinking of some liver things this year on my birthday - his latest slightly elevated labs, whether his recently acquired cold would make those labs look worse at the next blood draw, and how high or not his BP would be while we trial him off those meds - they were really passing thoughts as part of our new normal. We just had a fun weekend together.

What's a birthday weekend consist of these days? Well lots of little man time of course. We played with trains.

We went out for breakfast and to the park. We watched football - which Jaisal calls running because that's his favorite part.

Jaisal noshed on one of his favorite snacks during football, eating olives. We have to make special visits to the olive bar to satiate Jaisal's love of olives. I actually love the varied diet this kid eats. He'll have whitefish quiche for breakfast, gourmet tacos from our favorite taco bar, and snack on roasted cauliflower. He may not always want to eat a lot, but at least he'll eat most anything (although mac n cheese and pizza are favorites).

Besides all the quality time with Kirk and Jaisal, I also was fortunate enough to have dinner and drinks with family. All in all, a great birthday, despite getting a year older.