birthday dinner

i had such a sweet, low-key birthday celebration yesterday, i just want to write about it. lela, my daughter, wanted to take me out, and i chose casa de luz, one of my favorite restaurants. i sent an email to a dozen or so friends, just telling them i'd be having dinner there on my birthday and to join me if they'd like. no rsvp, no cards or gifts, just them.

lela picked me up in her lovely cabrio with her daughter and my granddaughter hannah in her car seat, and we drove to casa. lela had slept through two alarms and was late for her first physiology test that morning. she took the test and thought she did okay. it's her last difficult prereq for nursing school, and this is the second time she's signed up for the course. lela can pull it out when she needs to.

john gough, my dear RC partner of several years, was there when we arrived. john took the NLP intro workshop last weekend and is planning to take practitioner training. john suggested mixing some jalapeno sauce into the sweet potato and ginger soup. yum!

we've been emailing and will finally do our first RC session in two months next week. i'm looking forward to it. john's a rock for me.

then my dear friend clarita riccobono joined us, with news about her daughter adele's wedding and creative ideas about mixing in some sprouted beans into the soup as well as the hot sauce. i love being exposed to clarita's advanced olfactory and gustatory sensitivities, coming from a new orleans restaurant family. we agreed they (olfactory and gustatory senses) are an extension of kinesthetic sensing.

clarita also shared her difficulties remodeling a south austin duplex. she's changed her mind about it. live and learn, she said.

then zoe hill came with a haircut i hadn't seen, beautiful and stylish as always. she updated us on her health issues. she's been studying macrobiotic cooking in massachusetts and doing research and making plans for some huge lifestyle changes for the next year. zoe is dear and smart, and if anyone can pull off the recovery she wants, she can!

bruce hughes, lela's boyfriend and my much-appreciated next door neighbor, came for a little while, gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. he's got his own band now and plays gigs at the saxon on tuesday nights. i haven't heard his band yet but will soon. i like his songs, and he's got a fantastic tenor. plus, over 24,000 people have viewed his myspace profile! that's pretty famous!

clarita said in an aside to me that bruce and lela look good together. she sensed the sweetness between them.

hannah was her fully engaged self as usual. she got excited because her teacher, jim karabaic ("mr. k"), showed up at casa for his evening meal. she ran to greet him and later told everyone excitedly, "his name is jim!" she polished off two child's plates full of food and then asked about dessert. growing active girls need their fuel! lela started her on her homework of writing sentences with this week's spelling words, and she worked diligently and nearly got finished.

i got a coconut sorbet and a blueberry vanilla pudding for everyone to share. yum. we were all very pleased with the food.

it was perfect. just the right number of people so that i could connect with everyone and they could connect with each other.