TEN

Last weekend brought us date night. We went to see, “It’s Complicated” at the Sundance Theater. It was the first time we had been there, and we went because M had won a gift certificate for the Sundance as part of his prize for winning the chili cookoff. The movie was excellent overall. There were a few parts with the ‘children’ that were a little overly dramatic, and the actor who played Meryl Streep’s son was horrible. (He’s also in Weeds, and we don’t really enjoy him in that either). That being said, I laughed a lot and teared up a few times. Meryl Streep was amazing in the role (but isn’t she always!) as was Alec Baldwin. Steve Martin was kind of bleh, and I was distracted by his weird eyes and the bad facial work he’s obviously had.

The movie was very timely for me, as I’ve been struggling with my changing appearance as I’ve aged and put on weight. I had a bit of an epiphany. Meryl Streep was incredibly sexy in the movie—she just glowed! I saw a woman older than me who was sexier than any of the other women, even the much younger and thinner women in the movie. She looks very natural and doesn’t appear to have had any work done, but I don't know for sure. If given the choice, I and I imagine most men would choose to be with her 58-yr old character than the young, stick women in the movie. I have had a hard time envisioning anyone chosing to be with an older woman for reasons other than they are married to her and stuck with it and/or aren’t capable of attracting the younger, thinner women. Seeing her in this role made me see, for the first time since I’ve hit middle age, that there is hope for sexiness and it doesn’t have to all be in my past. I may need to watch the movie a few more times to really make sure that little epiphany ‘sticks’, but I feel much better about myself and my changing looks than I have for a long time!

The movie was well done and very empowering to women, while not being heavy-handed or preachy. I highly recommend it for anyone, but particularly for the women. Despite being billed as a romantic comedy (which M & I usually loathe), it was far more than that and managed to escape being a “chick flick” (which we avoid at all costs).

Sunday we celebrated Luciana’s birthday. She turned ten! My baby has hit the double digits, and I’m not very happy about it. She decided that she would rather have a party in the summer for her half birthday than do it now in the ugly, cold winter. So for now, we just did the family thing. She wanted me to make cupcakes (chocolate with pink frosting) for her ‘cake’ and go out to Olive Garden for her birthday meal. Both sets of grandparents, her beloved Uncle Dan, her sister (and Luke), and Hunter joined us for her birthday dinner.

She had Bharatanatyam class before her birthday gathering, and since it was on her exact birthday, she wanted to take treats to class. I first learned of her plans last Sunday when I heard her telling Meenakshi (her teacher) that next Sunday was her birthday and she was bringing cupcakes for everyone. She was pretty excited to take treats, and the girls all sang Happy Birthday to her. Behind the embarassed little hands was her happy grin. I'm not sure why she decided to wear American clothing to class that day, as she normally prefers a salwar. I'll never figure her out!

She got many nice gifts (too many) from her very generous family and friends (again, my friend Orinda went overboard). Her big gift from Mark and I was a digital camera of her own. She loves to take pictures and make art projects with them. She has a very interesting perspective to her photography. We are looking forward to seeing her view of the world in photos.

I’m fairly certain, though, that her favorite gift was from her sister. Dej gave her a card with a note saying that L’s gift was that D was taking her shopping to spend $100 however she wanted. I tried many times over the last few weeks to get D to cut the amount, as it’s ridiculously huge, but she said L is her only baby sister and it’s her right to spend whatever she wants. L would have been equally happy with $5 to spend. Her excitement was a result of having an outing alone with her sister.

They went last night (while I was stuck at a board meeting) and L was still walking on air and talking a hundred miles a minute about her awesome night with Dej when I got home at almost 10:00pm! She was happy with the gifts she selected, particularly since some of them would never have gotten past me. They went to the mall, had dinner at Panda Express, went to Hobby Lobby, and Target. I’m so glad they had fun!

But my baby is 10!!