40 and 1 day

I turned 40 yesterday.

And you know what? I love being 40. And not just because the alternative to turning 40 (=becoming dead) kind of sucks. No, I truly absolutely feel exhilarated that I am 40 years old. I feel young! I have so much to look forward to! Heck, my boss took up triathlons in his mid-40's. I don't think I'm going to start any intense sports hobbies, but hey, I could definitely start a new hobby (or revisit an old one) if I feel passionate about something.

My birthday was pleasantly low-key. My husband made a delicious breakfast of eggs and vegetables and fruit. The girls whined about the eggs (they have been on some sort of egg-strike for the last few months) - but, I figured, it's MY birthday, and they'll just have to deal with it. Number 3 and #1 ate most of their eggs, #2 made herself a peanut butter sandwich. At least everyone loves fruit (subject to change at any time). Best part of the morning was that my older daughter, who has rather long hair that gets horribly tangled, did not make a sound while I was brushing her! Made me so happy!

Our group had lunch with one of our clients in Philly, at what was supposed to be a fancy steak house. Eh. I didn't have steak - perhaps it was amazing. I had soup and salad - both were decent, but nothing out of this world. The lunch itself was fun - I like my colleagues and I like our client. We had some interesting conversations. I learned that 2 people were knitters, 1 person plays and records music (and is a drummer), 1 person plays the piano, and our client was into exercise, travel, and skiing.

My parents dropped by first thing in the morning and brought a home-made Napoleon cake that they know I love. They refused to stay for breakfast and didn't join us for dinner or desserts, but that's OK. My husband got some delicious Israeli food for dinner, we lit the Hanukkah candles, the kids sang "Happy Birthday", and then we all had a relatively drama-free relaxing evening, where kids played card games, danced to Hanukkah music, we read a few kid books, and I got some pleasant reading done by the fire (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).

Speaking of spies...  My husband and I watched "A most wanted man" a couple of days ago. Loved it! Excellent acting, good story, minimum of violence - and a painfully satisfying ending. The movie (it's based on a novel by Le Carre) made me look up other spy movies and novels.

Do you have a favourite spy novel?

I remember liking "The Day of the Jackal" years ago...