I don’t like my birthday. I know that sounds awful and depressing and people give me a hard time about it. You are supposed to be happy and joyful on this day and have great fun.

My birthday falls in summer, which for the last seven years has meant I am alone. While I have become ok with that and even find ways to make it work to add a little specialness to the day, I wouldn’t call it a way to be fun. The other issue for me is that it’s been a long time since I felt good about another age addition. I know that is also just in my head, but nevertheless, it’s there.

This year as my children get older and they are no longer spending the summers with their dad, it turned out that my oldest daughter was going to be home for the weekend on my birthday. This was the perfect excuse to bake a cake for cake is her all time favorite food. I didn’t say this was my birthday cake, we didn’t sing happy birthday or light candles. Still, it served well for the day. And once again I am struck with how easy it is to bake cakes.