happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear mom (to be sung)

a string of happy memories from last summer, in honor of mom's birthday. we're dreaming of sunshine, as we wait for spring to happen. and looking fondly back on fun had on horseback, in the water and in haunted houses last summer. mom, i hope you have a wonderful day and we wish we were there to celebrate with you!!

happy birthday to mom!

Happy thirty-fortieth birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear mom/grandma,

Happy birthday to you!!

#300

this is the 300th post on this blog. pretty good in about a year. even if i did most of them. :-)

and, like many of them, i'm using it to share fabulous pictures. because i do so love my nikon D60. best purchase i've ever made. well, at least it's right up there...

first, invitations for an upcoming birthday in our household...

then some beautiful, but busy creative hands...

and lastly a self-portrait which i had fun with in Lightroom2. i'm addicted. and actually, it's not really a self-portrait so much as a picture husband took. i'm all about the eyelashes.

36 things i wish for my sister before she turns 37

november 10, that’s my little sister’s birthday. she’s turning 36 today. when i was in singapore in september, i bought her an early birthday present of an 18-200mm zoom lens for her canon DSLR, which i sent to her more than a month ago. that’s a good thing, because we’re currently not speaking, in an odd fit of misplaced loyalty to a complete stranger, she still doesn’t recognize that it was a huge violation of my privacy  to give out my email address to some random stranger on twitter (why didn’t she just give him my blog address, so the contact could happen more "naturally," i wonder every day...but i digress). 

ever since she told me to “get over myself” when i asked her why she did such a thing and wrote such a spiteful mail to the random stranger about my having not answered him, and which she so kindly BCCed me on, i have been trying to get over it. i will say that i am still feeling bewildered and hurt by the whole thing and not at all over it, but it is her birthday and so, inspired a bit by hula seventy, i have made a list of the 36 things i wish for her before she turns 37. she is my only sister, after all:

1. laughter every day.
   
2. a song to go with every occasion.
   
3. an ability to rest easy within herself.
   
4. to see her own worth.
   
5. to pick her loyalties wisely.
   
6. to be able to recognize her talents.
   
7. to use those talents to their utmost.
   
8. travel to exotic locales.
   
9. frequent flyer miles.
   
10.  rich, full encounters with interesting, engaging people.
    
11.  thick, full, fluffy hair.
    
12.  to appreciate what others do for her.
    
13.  to “use the difficulty.” as michael caine once said on parkinson
    
14.  cooking inspiration.
    
15.  inspiration to entertain creatively.
    
16.  quick passage through passport control.
    
17.  an ability to see herself as the good mom that she is.
    
18.  patience.
    
19.  perseverance through the difficult times that kids put you through.
    
20.  dramatic jewelry.
    
21.  great handbags.
    
22.  fabulous eyelashes and great mascara.
    
23.  did i mention daily laughter? --i think i’ll wish this twice, because it’s important.
    
24.  great love.
    
25.  building wonderful memories.
    
26.  peace within herself.
    
27.  blogging regularly.
    
28.  success in her business.
    
29.  many good friends.
    
30.  people around her who stimulate her intellectually.
    
31.  people around her who stimulate her emotionally.
    
32.  satisfaction.
    
33.  creativity every day.
    
34.  getting over the past.
    
35.  moving on to towards the future.
    
36.  happiness.

what more could one wish for one’s only sister on her birthday?

* composed on KL804 MNL-AMS, nov. 9, 2008 and cross-posted on MPC .