Tonight: Sharing Burdens Sharing Joys

Have you ever heard the saying that sharing your burdens cuts them in half and sharing your joys doubles them?  That is the way it has been between my sister and I.

We were both born in March, two years and one day apart so we shared a birthday celebration our entire lives.  Although I went to college and she didn't we both married guys from the same fraternity at the Engineering school in the town where we went to High School, even though she met her husband when she was still in High School and I didn't meet mine until I was nearly out of college.

When our children were growing up we shared the joys and hardships of raising our kids.  When our mom became ill it was together that my sister and I shared the burden of her long term care.  If not for having my sister to help me think through the decisions that had to be made I would probably have been in a lot worse shape.

Last year as my sister and her husband were dealing with the horrible accident that nearly took the life of their son and the ensuing lengthy rehabilitation, it just happened that my sister's and my birthday fell right in the middle of their ordeal.  Mrangelmeg and I took it upon ourselves to drive up to the rehab hospital with our oldest daughter so that she could stay with our nephew while we took my sister and brother-in-law away for a night of celebration and relaxation.  They rarely left the hospital to do things for themselves.

We took them to a wonderful dinner at my favorite steak place where, because it was my birthday, we got an amazing desert called Mile High Chocolate Pie.  It took all four of us to eat one piece.  It was the most wonderful evening and really helped them relieve some of the stress of their long ordeal.    

Our husbands' birthdays are in June,  four days (and one year) apart.  

This year, to repay us for the favor we did them,  they have invited us to join them for another dinner at the same steak house tonight, on my brother-in-law's birthday (to celebrate the men's birthdays).  I think as much as my brother-in-law wants to celebrate sharing the joy of being together again, he is really looking forward to that Mile-high-pie.

At least no one is going through a major trial this year,  but we will share the little sorrows and joys of parenting,  as there are always those.  And we will talk about the memories we have of growing up, and all the years we have known each other, and the upcoming retreat we are all attending at St. Meinrad (my Holy Hill Gradual School), because my brother-in-law has been on retreat there and wants us to join him.  (How funny is that?)

It should be a very enjoyable evening.  I am looking forward to the company, well, that and the pie.

Pax

Another Birthday Gift

How lucky am I?  My birthmonth was over 12 days ago and I got a birthday present in the mail today.  One of my Gradual School friends sent me a book by Richard Rohr about Spirituality for the second half of life.

Now,  I realize I am getting older,  but I actually laughed when I saw the book.  The second half of life,  I guess that means I get to live to be 100 if I look at it with the most positive light, so I have that going for me.

On the serious side, I started reading it today and like other books by Fr. Rohr, it is very well written and talks about both halves of life, so I can still pretend to not have crossed over into the second half when I want to delude myself.

I will write a review of it when I finish reading it, which probably won't take long since mrangelmeg is off on one of his long trips and won't be around for weeks.

Pax

Two-For-One

Today (as it happens every seven years ) mrangelmeg gets a two-for-one Super Special Holiday bonus in which he gets to celebrate both his birthday and Father's Day on the same day. The kids gave him a really cute Father's day card and added a Happy Birthday message.

Mrangelmeg has had greying hair for a few years now, and his hairline is a bit further back than it was when we first got married, but he still doesn't "feel old". The problem is, people look at him and make assumptions about his age that are quite unflattering. He has more often than he cares to admit been offered the "senior discount" at fast food restaurants. He used to get upset, now he just takes the drink or whatever it is without arguing.

He works with a man who is twenty years older than he is and has a similar look but to someone at all observant they look nothing alike, yet they have been mistaken for each other by shop owners when they are on travel together.

Anyway all of this is enough to make any younger man feel at least a little discouraged. But he shouldn't. He will always be a big kid at heart. He will always have a juvenile sense of humor. He will always be the guy I love, whose smile makes me go weak in the knees.

He is on his way out to play some golf and then spend the rest of the day with his dad. Oh, I forgot about that, someone mistook him for his dad's brother once. If he didn't have such a great sense of humor he wouldn't be the man I married.

Happy Birthday/Father's Day my love, may you have many, many more.

Pax

Gonna Party Like it's My Birthday . . .

because it is!!!

I am outing myself a bit here but I am so pleased that I am going to admit that

Rufus wrote me a Birthday Limerick using my real first name!!!

Thanks Rufus, I can't tell you how pleased I am to have one of my very own. I may have to print it out and frame it or something.

Everyone kept asking me all day what great Irish Delicacy we were having at the angelmeg household in honor of St. Patrick's Day and my birthday. They all looked a bit stunned when I told them that we were actually having Mexican take-out from Bahio, one of my favorite little grills just on the way home.

Oh well, Patrick would have loved Mexican food if he hadn't been so fond of pig slop I am sure.

Now I am going to spend the rest of the evening relaxing here at home, sipping port and eating nice dark chocolates (I got some wonderful home made dark chocolate truffles from one of my classmates) and wait for my scheduled web-cam date with mrangelmeg. Gotta get that face time!!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, you guys all mean so much to me.

Pax

New Toys

mrangelmeg let me get my birthday present a month early. I got an Hp mini 1000 series laptop to use when I am away from home.

I have a really nice laptop, but it has a 17 inch screen and weighs a ton and is quite difficult to lug around. Now I have a really nice little computer with a nice sized keyboard to use for when I am away from home.

I have been playing with it and loading my favorite websites (the ones I will most likely need when I am in a coffee shop, or staying overnight somewhere) and setting my search engine to goodsearch for my the angelbaby's school library and all those other important things.

I wouldm't want to use this thing all the time, but for quick little activities it is great. Oh and this morning I discovered a new use for it. When mrangelmeg is asleep in the bedroom, now I can take the mini into another room and check email or go on facebook or even read blog posts, because we have a wireless network in the house. How cool is that?

Pax

Happy Birthday Mrangelmeg

My charming and long-suffering spouse turns another year more distinguished today. Above is a picture he took for some sort of project for work. He was trying to look as though he knew how to actually do his job. I think the little smile was a nice touch.

We are going out to an Irish family pub for lunch so that he can come back and watch the St Louis Cardinals play baseball this evening. Then we will have cake and ice cream. So much excitement, I don't know if I can handle it!

The girls got him an absolutely HUGE bag of Peanut M&M's (I think it is the industrial size actually). He was very excited about that. We also got him the Eagles new album Long Road Out of Eden finally, I had promised it to him at Christmas when it came out, but every time I tried to get it at Walmart in our College town it was sold out. Finally the other day I thought to check the Walmart here and there were actually four copies. We also got him Lynyrd Skynyrd All the Greatest Hits (with a 14 minute live version of Free Bird no less). He was very happy.

All in all I think he will have had a very happy birthday when this day is done.

Pax

Just What I Always Wanted for my Birthday!

I got a Birthday verse from Rufus at Korrektiv and fittingly it is a Limerick as I am the Irish Lass born on St. Patrick's Day.



You can Read it Here!


Pax

Happy Birthday To Me!

My Birthday toast to all my friends:

May the roads you take always be smooth,
May you say sweet words, in case you ever have to eat them,

And when your time comes (God forbid it should be soon)

may you find yourself in heaven a full half hour before

the devil knows that you are dead.

Hope your celebration of my birthday is safe and green beer free!!!

Pax

Happy Birthday To Me!

+As is the Tradition on my birthday. I am giving gifts.

This one is thanks to Loyola Productions (and Mark Mossa who showed me the way to the awesome link).

Click on the picture below for a QuickTime movie of Saint Patrick's Breastplate.

Enjoy my Birthday.

Pax

Angelmeg Raises her Voice!!!

Okay I have decided it is time for me to speak up against the "Drink-Green-Beer-Until-You-Puke-Fest" that the celebration of my birthday has become. Or "Amateur Night" as a dear Irish friend once called it with derision.

I really don't mind sharing my birthday (St. Paddy's Day, don'tcha know) with a country full of revelers, my only wish is that a little more restraint were visible. I don't even mind if you all wish to be considered Irish for an evening. We can't all be blessed with perfect genetic patronage. I do mind having to step over your besotted bodies and worrying about the condition of my shoes as I make my way back to my car after I attempt to enjoy my celebration.

I have given up any chance of spending my birthday in or near a bar for the evening, but it might be nice to, you know, be able to walk down the street without taking a chance on stepping in something disgusting, or worse yet being the target of a torrent of projectile fluids.

So, in case you ever wondered exactly what it is that you are celebrating (at least in the US) This is a pretty good article about the New York celebration's history and present state. It also gives some wonderful tips on how to do my birthday up with class.

I just ask that you use some restraint. Drink good spirits, in moderation. Raise a glass to your favorite blogging Irish Lass Angelmeg on her birthday. And go home only slightly tipsy for a change.

h/t to Mark Shea for the link.

If I see you out and about and you aren't puking-green-beer, I will wish you well. If you are I will cross the street to save my shoes and say a prayer that you get safely home.

Pax

New Dryers and Old Tunes

So I have good news and more good news today!

The good news is that the new dryer is installed and happily drying clothes as I type. It will be drying many loads of clothes to get caught up after not having a dryer for two weeks, and my only getting to the Laundromat twice to dry 10 loads. That is nothing in this family.

I couldn't convince mrangelmeg that the matching washer was a good idea, so I am still washing smaller loads than I might have been had I gotten the pair, but this will do nicely. I am so very happy to have it installed and working again that I can want what I have and not dream about what I don't.

The more good news is that I am getting an IPod for my birthday. I ordered it yesterday and it should arrive by Monday. In preparation for that happy event I have been loading all of our Cd's into ITunes so that I will be ready to download all of my music (and some of mrangelmeg's) just as soon as it gets out of the box and I can get it up and running.

I am so excited about this. especially because the weather is getting nicer and I plan to start walking outside and maybe even getting my old bike serviced and taking it out on a few of the bike trails (we have some wonderful bike trails that are nicely paved and very safe for the novice biker here in town.)

So, my day has just been packed, to say the least.

Pax