today was a good day

ranch dressing girl, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

i'm gonna get a little crazy on y'all and quote ice cube, and say:

"Today I didn't even have to use my a.k.
I got to say it was a good day."

ok fine! i don't have an a.k. i don't even know what an a.k. is. but i do really have to say that today was a good day.

today my dad turned 51. it was a celebration day, which started at 6am. me in the kitchen, making sauce like all the good italian mamas that have come before me. sweaty and hot in the kitchen on a 95 degree day, making homemade sauce, and lovingly cutting little x's on the bottom of each sweet tomato before i plunged them into the boiling water to take off their skins. i picked fresh herbs and threw them in as i saw fit. i took some crushed chili flakes and freshly ground pepper and got a little crazy. i had some coffee, and then i had some more.

and then there was the harvesting with the kids, and the making of homemade pesto. because what's a birthday party without "pasta done two ways"? so we had the red sauce and then we had the pesto. and then the salad. and then all the other delicious things that other people brought. including a cake that had hidden coins inside. which gave us lots to laugh about and many jokes to make.

and in between there was the trip to the beach, and the photobooth, and the pizza eaten outside a tattoo parlor, with grace saying "please mama! pleeaaaase don't go in there and get one of those tattoos! promise me!"

there were tire swings and wagon rides and big fat ice cream sundaes and conversations and family and dancing to "won't you take me to funnnnky toooooown?"

today really was a good day, ice cube.