Jan looked like a particularly fit and gorgeous 40-year-old at a low-stress birthday party last Wednesday night - - agree? Liz offered her home for the event and Sarah did the catering. Verdict on both: fantastic. We counted the Crows in our 60s, and there are seven of us now.*

On her actual birthday, Jan went whitebaiting with another over-60s dancer, Jamie Bull. It's bliss out there on Otaki Beach, regardless of wind and cold. You just tune out of life's hassles and into the universe. And as a special birthday treat, Jan caught about 10 ounces of bait. This seemed like a miracle after the shocking season they've had so far, with whitebait dribbling into the nets in ones and twos.

*That statistic holds until I turn 70 next February...