This is the last of the lemon cake I made for my 47th birthday on Sunday. Yesterday, someone at the office said "I hope that you didn't have to make your own cake." Not only did I make my cake, I took it to a potluck lunch at the church, and my friends ate it without knowing it was my birthday.
Obviously, I need to change a few things in my life.
I have a wonderful network of parents, family, and friends who remember my birthday (and, hopefully, whose birthday I remember, too). My network calls me and sends gifts, cards, and e-mails. I'll share in another post the great loot that my parents sent.
But this network, every little bit of it, lives in other states. Some in other countries. All of the local birthday friends (and I mean the friends whose birthdays I remember) have moved away.
So, this next year, I will expand the network. I'm going to calendar some local birthdays. I'm going to call these women and invite them to lunch or dinner or a movie. No more going to Friday night movies with only my sneakers. It's time to be a big girl, and reach out.
And next time my bishop (the leader of my congregation) says he wants to talk to me, I'm going to tell him it's my birthday and he can wait a week before messing up my life with a new assignment.
Of course, I still want my lemon cake next year.