For my birthday this year, I kind of flew under the radar. No parties or dinners or group gatherings. I like all that stuff, but I just wasn’t in the mood. And, the older we all get, the more aware I am of how complicated and time consuming those things can be for everyone else. Why use up the energy on a birthday celebration I just wasn’t feeling?

But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy myself. I took the day off and did whatever I felt like, which included a manicure that’s gotten more attention than any other I’ve ever had.

I have no idea what the name of the color is. I was actually going for more of a pastel green, but ended up with this. I swear, at least 4 different people have proactively commented on the color. I would have pictured the whole hand, but, alas, Mr. Pinky is one of the few unchipped nails remaining. He’s hung on through Fight Gone Bad, some nerf football in the park and afternoon showing of “Man of Steel,” which was a real nailbiter! (haha, get it?! Ok, sorry about that)

In any case, I have a work event tomorrow, and Mr. Pinky will soon be replaced with his hard-working, blue collar cousin Sally.

Other birthday week events of note include a (relatively) huge spike in traffic to this little blog. So, apparently, if one is looking to increase traffic to one’s blog site one should write a tongue-in-cheek post about ridiculously delicious cookies.

(Thank you, Levain Bakery, for sharing my blog post on your facebook page.)

So, besides all that, I have good feeling about this year, specifically about the book stuff. I’m a very paranoid, cautious, jinx-aware person, so it’s actually pretty hard for me to even type something like that…but I’m trying to get over that. Susanne Colasanti, a young adult writer I really admire, calls it A Knowing. I think I have A Knowing. It’s up against a lot of cynicism, but it’s also powered by some pretty strong determination and a posse of good people who have my back.

Question: Have you ever had A Knowing?