80 is the New 60
Today is my mom's 80th birthday! Her health is good, her mind is sharp, and she looks great, so here's hoping that she sticks around for another fourscore years, at least.
Our mini-luau turned out very well. All of my relatives showed up wearing aloha shirts or muu-muus; and they even brought their own leis. I served baby-back ribs that'd been marinated in an Indonesian peanut-teriyaki sauce and slow-cooked in the smoker, along with bbq'ed shrimp and chicken in a coconut curry sauce. Basmati rice with mango chutney, and a mango-papaya salsa was served on the side.
I whipped up a batch of non-alcoholic punch using the Maui Sunrise recipe from Beachbum Berry's Intoxica!. It was good, but too sweet for my tastes, so I wound up adding the juice of 2 limes to tart it up a bit, and then diluted it with a few cups of water.
A very good time was had by all. My family is a hoot, and I love them dearly. I'm looking forward to doing this again on her 160th birthday.
Happy birthday, Mom!
Comments
Happy Birthday to MomBaliHai! She looks great!
Posted by: Kimberly | August 19, 2006 7:06 PM
Thanks, K. Her genes *are* fabulous, aren't they? I just hope I got enough of them to compensate for the shady DNA I inherited from the Sicilian side of the family.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | August 19, 2006 7:13 PM
Oh, those shady Sicilians.
My Sicilian/Albanian (Arberesh) grandmother lived to be 87. She hardly had a wrinkle on her face when she passed away. I kid you not. My farm-raised German grandmother lived to be 90. She was spry and alert, and kicking our butts at poker, till the leukemia got her in the end. I think I'll be doing ok if I live as long as either of them.
Posted by: Kimberly | August 19, 2006 8:53 PM
Both my Sicilian grandparents lived well into their 70s, although they had a lot of health problems. My father was the one who died young (42), and his death was clearly linked to smoking, drinking, and over-eating.
And farm living, although hard, seems to have very beneficial effects on longevity from what I can see.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | August 19, 2006 9:21 PM
Happy Birthday to anyone who survived that party! ;-)
Posted by: orangeguru | August 20, 2006 10:04 AM
Happy birthday to your mum. Glad a good time was had by all.
Posted by: M.Ace | August 20, 2006 1:42 PM
She's eighty? Are you sure about that? She looks younger than you!
Many happy returns to your mum!
Posted by: The Cartoonist | August 21, 2006 10:24 AM
Wow! She looks fab! :)
Posted by: michelle | August 21, 2006 11:10 AM
Ralf: she looks younger than both of us put together...:-)
Posted by: MrBaliHai | August 21, 2006 5:00 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!
Your vids on youtube are too much!
Posted by: Sean Harrington | August 21, 2006 10:49 PM
My mom posts videos on YouTube?! She's cooler than I thought.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | August 22, 2006 8:50 PM
wow, your mom looks fabulous! definately not 80, not by a longshot!
Posted by: william | August 23, 2006 11:10 AM
My mom is in pretty good health... she's 70. She takes good care of herself... and both her parents made it into their early 80's... I'm hoping I have at least 10-14 more years of being able to hang with my Mommy.
Happy Birthday to yer Mom!
-Percy Trout
Posted by: Percy Trout | August 24, 2006 8:22 AM
Thanks for all the good wishes. I know Mom will be thrilled to hear that total strangers all over the Internets have sent her b-day greetings...:-)
Posted by: MrBaliHai | August 24, 2006 6:33 PM