November 1: Roni's birthday

Roni painted this for me one Mother's Day.
Both figures are self-portraits. The mother looks a LOT like Rich's sisters, who in turn look like his mother, Roni's Babcha.
Roni, Steve, and Bernadette resemble the Yarnot side, while Monica and Vince are more my side, especially my paternal grandmother.

Happy birthday to my oldest! 32 years ago she took me to a whole new level by making me a Mommy. I am so proud of her. She is, see above, very talented. (And she's still selling pictures.) She's lost 25 pounds and is in better shape than she ever has been before. There's another thing I know about (personal) that is hard and she's done it, yay Roni. And now she's started a new job, completely different from waitressing, and is doing well at it.

Also, she's a nice person. She's thoughtful, she's good at raising plants, and she's kind to animals.

(Just ignore Cool Bertie here. He really doesn't mind, and she assures me she really isn't strangling him.)

Her POUS (Person of Unspecified Status) seems to be beginning to think she's good enough for him. I say this as an entirely unbiased observer (want to buy a bridge?): his question should be is HE good enough for HER? I have my own answer to this, which gets more definite as the years pass. People with ambitions of athleticism don't usually smoke. I know of two smokers who died of heart attacks before they were 40. (I can be smug now. Rich has been off the Noxious Weed for 11 months now. He is still hooked on the gum, but one piece of gum a day isn't going to do as much harm. I suspect it's mostly a psychological need now, anyway.) Also, I think 42 is old enough to be able to form a commitment. But then, I'm just a Mom, and she seems happy.

I saw Pleasantville the other day. 1958, and at least on television, people didn't even hold hands till they were engaged. In real life, the ideal was a little looser, but not by much. Nowadays, I'm reading other journals, and seeing what modern-day life is like. I was a bit stunned by one, though, who had been living with her boyfriend for a couple of years when he suggested marriage, and she was totally taken aback. She'd never considered it.
Yes, there were a lot of divorces in the 50s marriages, but on the other hand, I'm going to a lot of golden anniversaries, too. I wonder if this generation is even going to have silvers. I also see a lot of heartbreak. It's all so casual, at first, but so heartbreaking down the line. It doesn't look to me like this way is any improvement over ours. Surely there's some middle way, not as uptight as the 60s, but not as cavalier with relationships as the 90s?

Anyway, I repeat, Happy Birthday, Roni! I always thought we had some sort of psychic bond. Maybe not so much any more, but she, by being the first, is still very special. (Yes, yes, otherkids, you too, you too!)

Meanwhile, I lost one pound, so I'm back to where I was a month ago. I've got to do better. Perhaps the 11.5 miles (counting 1.5 or .6 yesterday, around downtown and walking home from the Light Rail station) should be more. I didn't do anything more on the Round Robin, did mail card and present to Roni, and wrote one update on the new laptop wordprocessor. Oh, is THAT ever going to make my life easier! I read a little history, did no math, and got rid on all of one magazine and innumerable catalogs.