It's my birthday and I'll knit if I want to

In a shameless bid for attention, I am pleased to announce that is my birthday. I came into this world 42 years ago, and I'm still thrilled to be here. There is a lot wrong with our world, but there is so much more that is rigth with it.

If I had my druthers, (that is, btw, one of my favorite words) I would have slept in, caught up on a few Knitty Gritty episodes and gone to town on the socks made out of the gorgeous blue yarn mom bought for me (thank you mom) in Arizona. After finishishing those off, I would have cast on with the self-striping pink/green/white/black yarn she bought me (she has such good taste). But (as PeeWee Herman used to say, why do my friends always have a big but?) there are car repairs to take care, children to be dropped off, teenagers to be fought with, stories to be written and frightened dogs to be comforted (thunderstorms). I can't even take pictures of the yarn because my camera battery is dead! People keep asking me what am I going to do for fun? Fun? There's no time for fun! The one thing I really want I can't have - that's world peace. Not the whole world, just my world. My little ones fought over singing me Happy Birthday and then my big ones fought with each other over breakfast. They they tried to fight with me over their radio volume. We have a debate over whether electricity is one of those things parents are "required" to provide.

I could feel sorry for myself. I confess that for a little while I did. But the reality is that I've got it good. Not always easy, but good. I've got a car to fix, I have children to fight, I have work to keep me busy. So I don't have a ticker tape parade for my birthday. So things aren't exactly as I'd like them to be - I can either find my happiness in how they are or I can be unhappy.

The best thing of all is that I have parents on earth who gave me a strong sense of optimism and a Father in heaven who gives me hope.

Since I have no pics of the yarn, I'll share some others from our trip to the Zoo for my dd's 3rd birthday, which was Saturday.