A Birthday Post

 

Dear Me,

Today is our birthday! Yes, today, we are forty-four years old. Thankfully, we have recovered from the unbelievable shock surprise of thinking that we were turning forty-six years old today and not the forty-four that we really are. A goal for next year for us is to finally sharpen up on those lacking math skills so that kind of "funny" mistake doesn't happen again. No need to add on years when we haven't worked for them!

It is a sunshine filled morning and it is crisp, and fall-like. This is our favorite time of year! Everyone is still asleep, snoring not so softly in their spots. We've done my morning walk-about to check on Emma, who thankfully still has her clothes (and her diaper!) on this morning. I am sure, however, that by the time we go wake her up, she will be naked as a jay bird, and will shout "Gwood Mowroring, Cuwpcake!" to us when we open her door. But it really doesn't matter, as i love how she is so excited to see us in the mornings. Especially this morning....

We didn't get a call today from my Mom singing us "Happy Birthday" in Spanish. I remember thinking how corny my Mom was when she did that. What we wouldn't give to hear her cat-scratch singing voice (that matches my cat-scratch singing voice!) singing to us in Spanish today. Corny or not, those are some of my happiest memories of her. And it makes me realize that it really is the little things that you do for someone that mean the most. We haven't heard from my sister or father, but then, we didn't expect to.

We did my annual "Lets Stare At Ourselves In The Mirror" this morning. Not bad. Not amazing (but amazing in God's eyes, i'm sure....) but not bad. Everything we have works, it still works like it is suppose to, and dang it, we are having a great hair day! Our eyes are still a strong blue, our hair isn't grey (hush, yes, i know i got it colored a few weekends ago!), our skin finally looks like a woman's skin as opposed to a teenager's acne pit, our wrinkles are soft but there and we are still hoping that we'll grow another 4 inches but we really need to give up on that. Loosing weight would make more sense! If it hasn't happened by now, that growing taller thing just isn't going to happen. We'd love longer legs and a lot smaller waist, but we know that we have much to be grateful for in the way of health.

It has been a year of change for us, hasn't it? As we've gotten older, we want (or maybe it's "need") to search to find a purpose, a way to contribute to human-kind. It's not all about us, no matter how much fun that was while it was going on. It truly is more important to give, to love, to take care of others. I wished that we would have figured this out a long while ago...we have found causes that we want to support and get involved in. No more waiting for "someone" to do something; it's up to us, you know.

It's also time to lighten up on ourselves. No more bad mouthing to ourselves, no more negative talk, no more thinking that we are the clueless or stupid or dumb Mommy/friend/person. We have much to offer and the only thing that kind of talk does is get in the way of things we could be doing. Besides, it's not much of an example to Emma to act this way with ourselves.

Continue on the journey of religion that we've started. There is so very much to learn and we are blessed to have so many friends and mentors that we can ask when we get lost in readings of verses or books. So, don't be embarrassed to ask; religion is there to comfort, lead and connect....and it's an amazing search to be on. Remember that not everyone in the world has such freedom so be sure to take advantage of that wonderful freedom.

And so, dear self, Happy Birthday. Continue to play with Emma and forget the dishes till later, sing any time the mood strikes, laugh as often as possible, take time to nurture friendships and enjoy each day.

That's really what it's all about....