Celebrations

Lots of things to celebrate this week. For Leif, he has been Mountain Dew-free for one year. It is also the three-year anniversary of his hot springs rescue, where he gave a boy a second chance at life. I'm so proud of him. For me, I am celebrating Dax's one-year birthday by being grateful I don't currently look like this:

I am grateful for the ability I have to bear children, but I am so glad all three of them are here and that I am not currently experiencing the trial of pregnancy. I know I'm a wimp, but it's extremely difficult for me. I read a book last year by Nora Ephron called I Feel Bad About My Neck, and this was one of my favorite parts:

"Why do people always say you forget the pain of labor? I haven't forgotten the pain of labor. Labor hurt. It hurt a lot. The fact that I am not currently in pain and cannot simulate the pain of labor doesn't mean I don't remember it. I am currently not eating a wonderful piece of grilled chicken I once had in Asolo, Italy, in 1982, but I remember it well. It was delicious. I can tell you exactly what it tasted like, and except for the time when I returned to the restaurant six years later and ordered it again (and it turned out, amazingly, to be exactly as wonderful as I remembered), I have never tasted chicken that was crisper, tastier, or juicier. The song has ended, but the melody lingers on, and that goes for the pain of labor--but not in a good way" (43-44).

(Nora died the week after I finished reading that book, which was weird. The fact that she was in love with Bill Clinton creeped me out, but she was a good writer, and I owe her my devotion because she gave me my favorite movie, You've Got Mail.)

Anyway, I ran seven miles today and felt healthy and happy to be sickness free. That's worth celebrating.