"Us" would be Canada and me. Canada is older and will be around a lot longer than I will. When Spouse and I went for an ice cream lunch, we encountered a young girl wearing a Happy Birthday crown. I asked if today were her birthday, and she said it was. I pointed to my tiara (I wear a tiara on my birthday) and told her it was also mine. We exchanged birthday greetings. She turns four today while I edit the digit in the 10's place and turn 70. I hope that, like Canada, she will be around a lot longer than I will.
So what did the horoscope in The Washington Post foretell for my coming year? It may be more fitting than last year's was.
You are deeply sensitive and introspective. You're also empathetic and compassionate. This year is the completion of a nine-year cycle for you. Take inventory of your life. Let go of people, places and things that have held you back. Do some internal and external housecleaning. Clear the decks.
Moon Alert: Caution! Avoid shopping (except for food and gas) and important decisions from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. After that, the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.
So I have no idea what the Moon Alert is all about. The most important decision I have made today was where to go for ice cream for lunch. Since Spouse paid for it, it probably doesn't even count as a purchase I made, though ice cream is food.
As for taking inventory of my life right now, I should probably try to accentuate the positive. I can walk on my own if I have to, though unsteadily. I no longer have a nephrostomy tube coming out of my back and a nephrostomy bag of urine on one hip. I also no longer have two kidneys. Does that count as positive given that it's connected to losing the nephrostomy items? Am I better off now than I was on my last birthday? Hell, no. Am I better off now than I was on July 23, 2025? Yes. I have learned a lot about myself this past year, most of it good. Do I want to elaborate on that? Not right now.
I have struggled a bit thinking of resolutions for my upcoming trip around the sun. I would like to write more. All the writing I have managed to do this past year is the two 2026 entries here plus daily entries in a 5-Minute Journal given to me for Christmas. I'd like to do better this coming year not that much of what I write is earthshaking or even notable. Back when we traveled or planned to travel to Vietnam, I made two attempts to learn a bit of Vietnamese. As it happened, the only thing I could say turned out to be "thank you," but just that scored oh so many points. (I was also complimented on my accent by a seven-year-old.) Given that we have no plans to go back there for any sustained period of time, I can't really see the use of giving it a third try. Some--now 60--years ago, I spoke fluent Spanish. I can still read it a bit, but speaking it escapes me. Perhaps I should work on that again. It would certainly be more useful than Vietnamese. Whether to go about that through some sort of formal program (you would not believe how many I have seen marketed) or try on my own, I don't really know. I'm still thinking on that.
As for birthday doings, I did this morning open a card and two gifts a friend delivered yesterday. She nailed the card: "Congrats! You've made it another year of tolerating people." Perfection from one introvert to another. I'm looking forward to reading the book she gave me: Lawbreaking Ladies: 50 Tales of Daring and Dangerous Women from History. I have only heard of several of the women, and those all seem to be in the chapter "Outlaws, Gunslingers & Bandits." I also watched a delightful video birthday card sent by another dear friend and have tried to express appreciation for every birthday greeting I have received on the book of Faces. We'll do the traditional birthday celebration this weekend with Spouse and Older Son, I hope with the addition of Younger Son, Daughter-in-Love, and Spud (our grandson's name in utero). It won't be a true birthday, but I may wear my tiara anyway.
Finally, I continue to toy with the idea of marking my 70th birthday by getting my first tattoo, a small potato (yes, a spud) on my upper left arm. It has been suggested that should I do that, I can follow his progression by adding a tater tot, a small fry, and so on. The plan certainly has merit.
