Oh my gosh I have so much to be grateful for. Two birthday lunches in a week. (See? I did manage to pull off that second lunch!) A great spring storm. Some yummy presents.

Hand-sewn napkins from Megan. We've been using them every night and dinner feels so special.

A wine cube and some of her very own earrings from Marianne. This one (the wine) was definitely meant to share. That little thing holds FOUR bottles worth. Not wonder it was so heavy! It might see us through an afternoon at the beach this summer. Maybe.

Not to mention this from Marianne.

Yet again photography skills fail me. Oh lemony loveliness. Oh mousse-heaven. The yellow on top? Lemon curd of course. I wish I had a better picture. I wish you could taste it. Marianne, can you believe we had this for a whole week? It helped that I left it in the freezer at school for a few nights. It also helped that I was so unflinchingly miserly about sharing. Even with myself. Seriously. I almost never cut a full slice, but furtively spooned a sliver off the edge so Neel and Callum wouldn't know. We ate that pie a spoonful at a time. I'm in awe of this dessert. Baking, or being a good baker, much like photography and so many other things seems like magic to me. Maybe it's about skill, but the ability to be a good baker seems more gift than skill, as unattainable to me as brain surgery. And just as mysterious. I think of suitably domestic phrases like, "She had a light hand with the batter..." I don't strike myself as the kind of person who has a light hand with anything, much less mousse. Thank you so much, dear friend, for sharing your gift with me.

But here's the best gift of all:

My dad arrived today for a long-weekend visit. We deliberately didn't tell Callum, and boy was it worth it. His joy and surprise were awesome. A gift in itself.

There are presents for everyone. But the best part is right now. After a great dinner together, knowing that the weekend of fun and laughter stretches before us.

And the pen and notecards at the top? Creme-Brulee Tracy, of course.