Birthdays

What is it about birthdays?   I looked at Google and found:

While many cultures developed birthday celebrations separately, the Egyptians were the first ones to get the party started. When Egyptian pharaohs were crowned gods, they were “birthed.” That means the first birthday celebration wasn't marking the birth of a human, but rather the birth of a god.

Well, history blurb aside, (and I'm definitely not a god!!)  what determines how a person decides to celebrate a birthday?  I've never been big on celebrations dictated to land on a certain day.  With my kids going to their dad's every other weekend, or for six weeks each summer, it wasn't the actual date that made the celebration, it was whenever we made the choice to celebrate.  My mom, on the other hand, is really big on celebrating on the actual day.  With my 64th coming up, she's making plans for dinner, a cake, and wants to know what I'll be doing.  I don't want to hurt her feelings, or bruise her need for these celebrations, but I haven't celebrated my birthday in many years. 

And that caused me to think about the past.  I was born in the summer, during a thunderstorm (which might account for my liking those kinds of storms!!) and when you're young and it falls in summer, the opportunity for birthday parties is pretty small.  Families are on vacation, kids are scattered for a lot of different reasons.  I didn't have large parties, but sometimes a couple neighbors came over.  But more often than not, it as just family.   In comparison, my sister was born in March, school in full swing, and she liked people, always had a large party.   So is my dislike for birthdays because of the whens and whys as a child?  Or maybe its a symptom left over from lousy husbands?  

Either way, just like all the other holidays, it's just another day.  Sometimes I work, sometimes I stay home and do my usual routines.  Ad sometimes I'm surprised out of the blue.  Annie, at work, surprised me with a bag of 8 different chocolate bars!  That's enough for me, I don't have expectations about presents, a fancy meal, or birthday cake.  It just isn't my thing!

Happy 64th to me! 

Celebrate Life!

When a child is born, we celebrate!  It's one of life's most precious gifts.  And each new child is given a life to lead on this Earth.  But what happens when someone dies?  We have a hard time celebrating because of our own pain, our own mourning, our own feelings.  We miss the one we lost.  It hurts when someone we love is no longer in our lives.

The truth is, we should celebrate the time we had with a person, no matter the length of time we had with them.  Today was that kind of day.  It was sad to say goodbye to Dad, but the memorial service we planned was a celebration of his life!  My sister knows how to plan great parties, and this one was the greatest of all!  We had a worship service, sang the hymns Dad had requested, the choir sang the song Dad liked so well - they even wore their choir robes because that's what he wanted! - and my sister spoke, giving a loving tribute to him.  I was so proud! because she has the ability to speak in front of a crowd.  Me?  I always say "My Dad was a man of few words -- and I'm just like him!!!!"

We showed slides of Dad throughout his life that I made for him on the last Father's Day.  Some of them were funny enough to make the entire crowd laugh out loud!  And I was so pleased about that - people needed to be able to put a visual to all the facets of the man my father was.

After, there was a reception of finger foods, and we had put up special photos of Dad everywhere, and showed even more slides from his life.  So many people came to honor him - some were people who didn't know him, but who know his children.  How a man raises his children says a lot about the man he was.  Of course, after that, everyone headed back to the house - the house my parents have lived in for 49 years! and we continued the party, the stories, the celebration.


I'm proud to say I'm his daughter.
and I know that he was proud of me.

Celebrate Life!
We sure did today !!

You are missed, Dad!  love you :)

Day 4

It was S.H.I.T day == So Happy Its Thursday!  hehehehe  I survived another day, even though not enough got done.  Only 6 more days to go.  When I think of it like that, my head hurts!  But I plod along, doing as much as I can .....

There was a celebration of sorts and my BigBox store provided lunch to celebrate 4th quarter earnings - there were sub sandwiches, chips, soda and cake.  Nothing real fancy, but I was diligent and stuck with my salad.  I had packed an extra protein bar in case the urge to indulge hit me, but I survived!  Sometimes its those little battles that are harder to fight than bigger issues! 

I'm gonna give myself a big pat on the back, I was checking numbers and stats and found that yesterday's weigh in was the mark of 35 pounds lost in the past year.  Yay!  When I realized that I'd reached a number I hadn't seen in ... ohhhh.... a long while... I remembered some custom sized toe rings I got when I still lived in California.  I slid them on my toes, and Taaa Daaaa!  they fit!  Who knew toes got chubby too???  *laughs*

Can't wait for sandal season to get here, and I can show them off :)

Here is today's quote from SparkPeople (where I do all my tracking)

And I think its important for us to remember.  So many of us gripe and want changes, but are unwilling to do those things that will create change.  It truly doesn't take much, its the little things that grow into bigger things that create change.  When I started at the gym, it was only 3 days a week; I could only walk for 20 mins on the treadmill and I was thrilled to be able to do one mile.  Now, two miles is the norm, but on days when I have a little extra time, my goal is 60 mins, or 3 miles, whichever comes first.  And my pace has increased, nothing less than 3.8 mph.  It took a while to build up, but just a little bit added up to bigger things.  The same can happen in our lives in other ways.  Maybe your goal is to be happier at work (yeah, I know, some things don't seem possible!! hahah)  but happiness is an attitude as much as anything else.  Sometimes all you have to do is smile.  It catches on and people smile back.  Pretty soon, people are smiling instead of being grumpies -- its the little things.  Got a project  that will take a lot of time?  Break it down into bite sized pieces, and do a little bit.  Pretty soon-- you're halfway there! 

Change isn't easy, but it's worth it!

Holidays alone

It's officially the Holiday Season. The infamous "Black Friday" sales are over. Today is "Cyber Monday", another manic day of online shopping, if that's your thing. But by the time we reach the later years of life, things just aren't the same. How do we keep the sparks alive when things are so different now? I found a list of things to keep in mind that just might help:

• I don't have to hide purchases in the trunk of the car any more.
• I can stay in my pajamas all weekend long.
• I can eat pizza for breakfast, or have pancakes for dinner.
• I can spread all my papers and books on the other side of the bed and leave them there til I'm finished.
• I don't have to make an appointment to spend half an hour in the tub.
• I can watch a wonderful old movie at 3am without keeping the volume down.
• I don't have to share my closets with anyone.
• I can dress up for the fun of it without anyone asking "What's the occasion?"
• I can tear pages out of magazines and newspapers without waiting for anyone else to read them first.
• I don't have to tune out the clamor of someone else's choice in music, television, or video.
• I can spend Saturday reading and catch up on the housework whenever.
• I can eat anything in my own refrigerator at any time.
• I can celebrate any darn thing I want to with an expensive bottle of wine.
• I'm always happy with my own birthday present.
• I don't have to stop everything to catch the score, unless I want to.
• I don't have to explain myself, ever.

None of this may sound like it will lead to living romantically, but it has to start somewhere. If you're feeling sorry for yourself because of loves lost, try and discover a few reasons to be grateful for your singleness in the moment.

Love After Love
~Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation,
You will greet yourself arriving
At your own door, in your own mirror,
And each will smile at the other's welcome.

And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
To itself, to the stranger who has loved you.

All your life, whom you ignored
For another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
The photographs, the desperate notes,
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

HUGS to help celebrate YOU!