Wednesday was my birthday. I threw myself a birthday brunch. It meant that I had to do some work on my birthday but it was worth it to have friends from work over. We had a good time and I got to show off my bedroom and my cooking. The rest of the day I vegetated in front of the computer here. I put up the fabric on the ceiling of my bedroom the night before the brunch. Earlier in the day when I was stapling the velcro strips onto the ceiling I took a tumble off from the stool and gave myself several bruises on both legs and a dandy one on my back. Luckily that was all I was hurt. When I landed I was a bit apprehensive about moving, afraid that I'd really hurt myself.

Today is the seventh anniversary of the finality of my divorce. I didn't do anything to celebrate it but I'm often amazed at how much time has passed since then and how normal it feels to not be in that marriage anymore. We were married for 22 1/2 years and I never really thought I'd be in any other relationship during those years. When we first split, I didn't think I'd want to be in another marriage. Figured I'd probably like having a boyfriend but didn't think I'd want to be married again. Sometimes I wish that I'd not gotten married again but lately that has decreased in frequency. Living with another person can be very difficult and exhausting. Trying to not step on any feelings and to be fair takes work. Many days I don't feel that I have that energy but there isn't much choice so it is done.

Next is Valentine's Day. I like to plan something romantic for that day. I want to keep this marriage a bit more alive than I did with the last one. Haven't completely decided what I'm going to do yet but I am doing the 14 days of Valentines with a small gift and a card each of the first 14 days of February.