The difference between 38 and 16

Other than the obvious 22??

More weight, less tone...
More gray, not as much hair...
Some wrinkles, but less acne...
My teeth are now straight...
More insight, less attitude...
More willingness to learn from others...
More awareness that I don't know it all...
More certainty that I know very little...
More urgency to do...
Shorter days, weeks, months and years...
More wonder, less taken for granted
Greater obnoxiousness about my birthday...
More knowledge of who I am - and who I don't want to be...
More appreciation for the "little" things in life...
More understanding that the "little" things are really the BIG ones...
More need to do good, and less hope that we can do it all...
Would that be less hubris??

I'm still me, just an improved version. Not like wine - wine improves with the years, until it stops improving. I'd rather be like a controversial, ground-braking work of art: misunderstood in the early years, acknowledged down the road, and appreciated later on for being bold, unique, and beautiful in its own right (for whatever qualities that make it so).

And no, there's no apologies on that statement. After all, today is my birthday!

On the inauguration

It's hard to describe the enormity of this moment - harder probably to truly appreciate it without having suffered personally from the extreme prejudice and discrimination black people have lived with for years in this country. Still, what a moment this is. The first black president of the United States has been inaugurated, and the country is watching, more than ever before.

Expectations have been high on all fronts. This morning on NPR, there was a report on the expectations of children that now the country will turn into one in which there is no distinction based on the color of your skin, and their faith in the fact that this new president will fix their schools.

There was also a mention of Rick Warren and whether he would invoke the name of Jesus - which he did, and in a way that probably didn't offend many.

And there was a mention of the much anticipated inaugural address of our new president - would it be so memorable as to withstand the test of time, like Lincoln's second inaugural address? Will it just have sentences that will continue to be quoted in the years to come? And on my part, would it live up to the expectation set not just by this moment, but by the last two years of listening to a candidate who campaigned largely on the concept of hope, and who believes that "yes, we can!"

The expectations we all have of this president (whether democrat, republican, libertarian, or whatever, we all have them now) are probably the highest placed on any president in recent history. What will time tell us after the party is over? How long will the honeymoon last? I for one hope for a more moderate Obama than we saw on the campaign trail, and for a president who will reach across the aisle.

His life will never be the same, and his popularity probably will never be as high as it is today. The honeymoon will be short-lived, but I have high hopes for his ability to navigate troubled waters and lead people forward.

In her words (yeah, there's more)

Katarina is going through the horrible threes - there's the terrible twos, but the threes complete overshadow them, imho.

She is now also completely articulate, uncannily clever, and entirely too quick for our own good. And, alas, not a baby anymore!

Here's one of our recent conversations right as I was working unsuccessfully to tuck her in for the night.


Katarina - Mommy, I don't want to get married, and I don't want to have babies, and I don't want to have a boyfriend.

Me - (thinking, that's totally fine by me, especially since you're three) Why not, baby?

Katarina - Because they're yucky...

Larissa - No, they're not!

Me - (thinking, oh boy, not this soon...)