My Birthday

Today is my 32^nd birthday.  January 3.  Some people think of New Years as a time to take stock of their lives, and some people use their birthdays, but for me, they’re kind of one and the same.

I’ve never really liked my birthday.  By the time the 3^rd of January rolls around, no one has any party left in them.  Plus, I’m more of a summer girl, so when people would ask me what I wanted to do for my birthday the answer was always to have a party at the water slide or the swimming pool but it might be a little chilly on a January day.  My parents solved this problem by giving me a party in the summer; they were really cool like that.

Last year on my birthday I was such a wreck that I told everyone we were skipping it.  I didn’t want anyone to tell me “Happy Birthday” or anything.  I spent the day actually feeling very loved, a bunch of my friends helped me move my stuff from my condo into the place that I’m currently living.  None of them knew that it was my birthday.

So this year, actually wanting to celebrate is movement!  My sister and her family from London are here visiting.  With a 6 and 8 year old in attendance, we decided to have a Fiesta, complete with a butterfly piñata.  I’m stoked.  My mom and the sister that live here went all out when they found out that I actually wanted to celebrate, and they are party planners extraordinaire.  We have silly hats and mustaches.  Also, I still love lemon cupcakes with fluffy white frosting, the same birthday cake that I’ve chosen since I was a little kid.

I’ve had hard birthdays before.  It was hard for me to turn 25, for some reason.  Well, I think I know the reason.  I always think it’s hard when you’re not where you think you should be in your life and a birthday just seems to highlight that.  At 25 I was in a job I didn’t love, and not dating anyone at a time that I thought I should already be married. 

Turning thirty was not really a big deal to me.  I was married to a man that I loved, we were starting to talk about starting a family, and work was going reasonably well.  I was content.

At 32, life certainly looks nothing like it did at 30.  I’m not having a freak-out, though.  I’m not thinking, “OMG, I’m so old, and this is not where I want to be in my life.”  I guess I think that on a daily basis, that this is not the life I was dreaming of, so I’m just used to it.  It makes birthdays much easier.

Arthur's ready for the fiesta!

All that to say, so far, I’m having a delightful birthday, surrounded by family I love, not freaking out about being old, and actually I can’t wait ‘till next year, when I’ll be 33, because, I love the years that are divisible by 11.  That was my favorite multiplication table.