I have a card on the mantel in my office that my sister gave me when I launched my book.

It says "Life may not be the party we've hoped for but while we're here we might as well dance."

I love it for lots of reasons. Partly because for me it is ridiculous. There is nothing that could make me dance or do karaoke. Public spectacle making is not my thing.

But I love the card because it is somehow hopeful and melancholy, accepting and optimistic at the same time. It acknowledges how hard it is to be upbeat all the time, even for the naturally optimistic like me.

Life may not be the party we've hoped for. Maybe not right now, but we're not giving up on "ever." This too shall pass. Meanwhile, let's dance a little. Let's make the most of right now and be grateful for what we have.

Nobody would describe my life right now as a party, and if they did, they'd really need to get out more (and dance a little).

But life up to your eyebrows with children — and their meals and their baths and the places they need to be and the homework they need help with — is joyous in itself, while setting up the expectation that children are not children for long. And maybe life can be the party we've hoped for when they're a little more independent.

I won't be dancing, but my party will take the form of an airplane ticket somewhere exotic. Somewhere without karaoke. Hold the dancing and go heavy on the palm trees and margaritas.