I told John I only wanted cards and a very small gift for my birthday this year, and this is what I got. He said it was the gift of knowing I’m old. We had a great few days in Seattle including a Mariners game where they played predictably unpredictable and lost (exasperated sigh), then home to the girls who held the fort down beautifully (but note to self: never again leave promising $20 to anyone who cleans up something really gross. You guarantee yourself many, many texts of cat and dog vomit). Nice day today, back to the real world tomorrow. I am tired a lot lately and feel very in between in my life in some ways, and I’ve never been a big fan of the messy middle. 48 feels a bit like a stop for gas and fast food on the way to somewhere else. In spite of that and maybe because of it, I feel very lucky to have this precious life with the people I love.