Sugarcubes

This Thursday is Carrie's birthday, and it's the big 30-somethingth, so I have planned and bought and lined up a babysitter. I learned a long time ago last year, that just because birthdays and Father's Days are not terribly important to me, birthdays and Mother's Days are highlights of each year for grown-up folks who have to live with me the other 363 days.

People have feelings and emotions, I have to keep reminding myself, and my beloved has what I would consider plenty. These are the times when I can shine and prove that I understand that kind of trivia, and that I can listen to and register wishes and needs and then take action. So it's a work in progress.

Me, I like a day at the track for either or both of those days. I enjoy gambling, that feeling of "You never know," that before the trumpet and the tip and the first pitch and the kickoff and puck drop, all is possible, and that history has no clout here.

Since I don't have the brain for card games, and don't like games of pure chance, like roulette, I have dabbled in sports gambling. By dabbled I mean I have some fun stories of weird ways I have won and lost, um, "things". I have not endangered any family members or bill deadlines or commited my children to indentured servitude, thus, I have no problem.

I have won "things" when a horse race outcome was changed by a rules violation, and lost "things" when a coach got two technicals at the end of the game and the opposing team made all its technical free throws to change my winning point-spread position to a less favorable standing.

Won on the Music City Miracle, lost on meaningless last-second 3-pointers by cretins who could have dribbled out the clock. I understand the joy of Not Losing, as opposed to Winning, and that the excitement of actually winning is at least half fueled by simply being right rather than any "things" accumulated by victory.

In all, I have lost more "things" than I have won, but they're just "things," not like love and other special types of human fun, so in the end I'm a winner in that way. Sharing, that's another one, and holding doors for strangers so that you can silently curse those who don't return the favor.

Back to Carrie's birthday. We're going on Sunday to the XcgKspik for some ajvor, and maybe a little ;';mjm, followed by the presentation of gifts--the ashpye and the apoh7 she asked for just days ago. Then, if all goes well, back to the Married Pad, for a little Jh1i'ihnshw.

It's all a surprise, so if you know her and see her before Sunday, shhhhh.