The day has arrived!  Today is my son’s 3rd birthday party.   Weeks of planning, preparation, and agonizing over internet photos have come to an end and I am excited to celebrate with our friends and family.

In my last post I did not mention my hopes for this blog.  Over the past five years I have been figuring out my roles as mother, wife, etc…, but had placed the role of “creative force” on the back burner ~ this was true with the exception of “the birthday party.”  I found that “the birthday party” was a palatable enterprise because it was a contained event, did not need to be duplicated, and still supported the above mentioned role of “mother.”  Now that I am beginning to feel inspired to be creative in other areas of my life, I will remember “the birthday party” as something that reminded me that (as tired as I am sometimes) the creative spark is still inside, waiting for its time to shine!

I grew up in a house that truly celebrated birthdays. It was a day to feel honored and special.  My mother would set the scene with some fabulous theme and my grandmother would bake the cake.  Her beautiful creations live on in my memory from checkerboard and rainbow interiors to a three-foot bright green crocodile that supported my Crocodile Dundee themed party.  As I frost my son’s cake today, I am thinking of the women who raised me to appreciate hard work and beautiful things.

Now, if only the rain would stop…