It's My Birthday

I don't particularly like the getting older part, but I sure do like having a birthday every year. I was born the day after Thanksgiving....several weeks past due. My Mom thinks that it was because she ate too much turkey....or it might have been all of the butter my grandma put in the stuffing. Being a Thanksgiving baby means that some years my birthday is before, sometimes it's after, and sometimes it's on the day....but where ever it falls, I've always shared my birthday with Thanksgiving. That's OK by me. Brian was born the day after my birthday...he was past due too. But that means he shares his birthday with me and Thanksgiving...I'm not sure if that's OK by him, but what do you do?

November 24, 1961

I grabbed some photos that I had scanned a few years ago for my parents anniversary to share here...because I wanted to since it is my birthday. This is my brother and I with flower wreaths in our hair. My brother doesn't appear to be very enthused about the whole thing. His eyes are as blue as mine are brown...oh how I wished I had pretty eyes with long dark lashes like his.

I was a deep thinker as a child....here I was thinking "why does my mom have me standing on this fence wearing a stupid dress." I don't look very enthused.

My mom usually had us point at something when she took our picture, I think it was to get us to look in the same direction. It looks like I just finished pointing at something here, didn't work so well that time!

Another shot of my brother and I. We had new bikes and a new kitten...life was so good. You can see that I am in deep thought again....no doublt thinking "why am I wearing this stupid dress to ride my cool new bike?" I didn't like dresses very much. This one was kind of OK because it was more like a shirt. I just realized that I am wearing a dress in all of the pictures so far....hmmm....

...oh there we go...this is more like it! My first horse, Sabre. I'm not going to wear a stinkin' dress to ride my horse! I love this picture of me riding with my dad looking on. The places you can go when you have your very own horse.

The next two pictures I'm back in a dress again...huh....must have been the only time we had our pictures taken. These are to show those awkward preteen and teenage years. The first one was right before my aunt and uncles wedding, in the early 70's. My mom looks hot! My dad so handsome. My brother looks like a Catholic school boy. Me...what a dork! A dork in a hot and itchy dress. And I followed the bride around to help her with her train. Big help I'm sure.

Does this just scream 1977 to you? Love the big collar and white shoes that my dad was sporting. My mom had well coiffed big hair. I must have been a flower child. And my brother...pretty cool with the blue glasses that matched his shirt. Don't you just want to sing the Partridge family theme song? "Hello world there's a song that we're singing....come on get happy!" Oye.

Now this is more like it. Sweet 16 with a sweet new horse. Oh how I loved that feisty girl...the horse.

It wasn't long after that last photo that I met this guy...just after his senior prom. It's OK, I asked him to my prom the following year. Yep...it's Eric. I think he liked me, braces and all!

And my senior picture. There are those darned braces again. I got them off 2 days after graduation. At my 5 year reunion everyone said, "oh, you got your braces off." Thank you Mr. "can't get you in a few days early" Orthodontist. I'm over it, really.

A little walk down memory lane for my birthday. Hope you aren't laughing too hard!

On a different note, every year on or around my birthday I like to find a quiet spot just to think and to re-evaluate and to figure out what I need to work on this next year. I'm feeling like the list will be longer than it has ever been this year. I'm not sure how much of the list I'll share when I do write it all down...but I will share this....

This is who I want to be again. Thinner, stronger, happier, more confident, tan and smiling. Well, the tan part isn't so important...but it never hurts.

It's my birthday...and it's time to cowgirl up.