We crammed another celebration into this crazy month tonight when we all got together for Mom’s birthday. Suzanne fixed tacos at Mom’s request, with extra napkins as always to keep the grease from dripping off her chin and elbows. She really gets into tacos.

Aiden made a brief appearance (with his parents and puppy, natch), but he’s having a miserable time with teething just now, so he didn’t stay for dinner. He laughed at me and talked to me, though, and that’s all I needed to make me forget about all the things that have been weighing me down lately. He’s such a good baby that even when he’s not at his best, he’s still his own sweet, mellow self. I wish I could be more like him.

We do have more than our share of December birthdays in the family, I think. I missed Suzanne’s last week when I was sick; there are some things you just don’t want to give somebody, no matter how much you care. I was feeling better today, if not quite up to full speed yet. I thought I was over it for a couple of days, but it’s trying to linger (and I’m trying to ignore it, because fighting it hasn’t worked).

Mom doesn’t want much for her birthday, except to be with the family (and eat tacos). In her new place, she doesn’t really have room for a lot of Stuff. She got rid of a lot of excess Stuff when she moved, so it’s no use trying to fill up space that just doesn’t exist.

Suzanne and John and Eric and I were with her all afternoon, and David and Tammy and Aiden (and Titus) were around long enough to make this a pretty good birthday. Mom would be the best judge of that, though, since she’s had more of them than any of the rest of us.