I'm 47 today. Whoohoo! I'm getting used to saying I'm in my late forties.

6:00 I wake up from a bad dream. Darth Vader was demanding I throw my son off a tall pillar into the black abyss. But, I secretly put jet propulsion rockets on his feet and my back. I hid our bodies with a cape (eerily similar to Vader's) and shielded my mind from the evil one. Then I held my son in my arms and leapt. That's when I woke up. I hadn't slept well all night--pains in my foot, so luckily I got back to sleep.

8:15 Check all my birthday greetings on email and facebook. You know how secretaries used to remind bosses about their wives' birthdays and then bosses took credit, and now we have facebook to tell us about all our friends? I love it! I love the constant flow of good wishes through the day.

8:27 I am not over my weight red line. I'm close, given all the partying of the last few days, but I'll take it.

8:30 I am running late. David is playing the piano, reluctantly of course, but it's the rule that you have to practice before t.v., and he seems to be actually following the rule today. We have a cheerful conversation about his missing lunch box. Rose is grumpy because her throat hurts and when she was having a melt down last night I refused to let her skip her shower and now her present for me is not done. I explain that I'm looking forward to presents all week long.

9:08 We are still running late, but I get the kids to my sister's house, pick up her kids, and walk everyone to school. On the way, we sing every happy birthday song we know. Their Hebrew rendition is particularly good. On the way, I chat with three different people I know. I do not take being part of a community for granted. It's great to have that group of people in my life--the chat to and fro school group, and that includes the two year old who lives across the street.

9:45 I finish my oatmeal with mango and play on facebook. Reading lots of random links on facebook is one of my biggest time grabs. Oh well. I also update my photo from the penguin to the polka dotted hat.

10:00 A friend in crisis comes over. We talk about her crisis for an hour. I try very hard to let her do more of the talking.

11:00 I write.

11:30 I edit a student's paper. I love my work. I love knowing what I'm doing, helping people, and earning money. My income is down a bit from last year, so eventually, I should advertise more.

12:15 Sweet potato and cottage cheese for lunch.

12:45 I write poetry.

1:45 take a nap. Thank goodness. From that bad sleep last night, I can barely keep my eyes open.

2:30 Someone found me on the internet and wants to know how much it would cost to help him with his graduate student essay. I write him a carefully thought out email with examples. I need to keep that email for the next time.

3:15 I go to my sister's house to walk to school to pick up the kids. We are late, of course, but so are the kids. We hang out on the playground in the lovely warm weather. David plays on a skateboard. Rose does circus acts on the grass. I chat with friends.

4:40 After walking back to the car, we take a quick run to the library. David has Pigeon Post waiting for him, so we have 9 hours of books on cd to listen to soon.

5:00 John and I rush around trying to get dinner on the table while Rose whines about being too tired to try on her new clothes, and David watches the rest of his screen time.

5:30 John made me a brie omelet which makes me very happy. I open presents, and our friend Becky joins us.

6:10 We leave the kids with Sally and go to Star Trek. I invited a crowd and nine friends join me to see the movie. I like it. It's delightful fun to know so many references.

9:00 Four of us go out for drinks at the Matador. Actually, only I drink--a marguerita. Learning to drink has been part of my mid-forties.

10:10 I chat with Sally about the crazy kids.

10:30 I should be going to bed but I finish this.