I’m getting ready for my son’s second birthday. Usually, this would be a fairly easy event to plan—cake, balloons, a few gifts, and get the family together. But I’m stalled. I feel overwhelmed with the task, unable to come up with a birthday plan. Not because he’s turning two, but because he’s turning two on July 7, 2007, better known as 07.07.07. What can I possibly create for a two-year-old’s birthday to match the auspiciousness of it falling on 777, the luckiest number of our culture? In Lisbon, Portugal, in their largest national venue, they are unveiling the new Seven Wonders of the World on that day. Their guest list includes the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Swank and Neil Armstrong. I can’t exactly compete with the new Seven Wonders of the World. (But I will be logging on to www.new7wonders.com to find out what they are!) Across the world, SOS (Save Our Selves) is hosting Live Earth, a series of concerts on 07.07.07 to “use the global reach of music to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis.” Genesis, Madonna and Metallica are playing in London, Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi and Melissa Etheridge in New York, Shakira and Snoop Dogg in Hamburg…you get the idea. And that’s just one organization. Other people are hosting photography contests, festivals, or gathering to pray and fast. People are feeling preemptively lucky and are making big plans. 07.07.07 is shaping up to be the most popular wedding date EVER. Hotels, chapels and wedding planning websites are reporting triple their usual number of weddings for that day. Some places are turning couples away by the dozens. Las Vegas is looking at its busiest day on record, with one chapel marrying 113 couples on that day. It doesn’t help that July 7, 2007 falls on a Saturday in July, one of the busiest wedding times of the year. We can’t get married, gamble, go to a huge concert or to Lisbon for my son’s birthday. Jaden was two weeks late, and on July 7, 2005 he came in a rush for a very memorable home birth, no planning required. Maybe that’s what this will be like. All of the sudden, we’ll get to the day and…magic.

-michelle