10 posts tagged “birthday”
Last week I was a bit off in my photo-a-day efforts. Between accidentally deleting (on my camera) several sunset and moon shots...spending all my energy shooting school activities on Thursday (and I keep those off my blog)...and two days flat out forgetting (in all the craziness) to even shoot a daily photo...well, let's just say I'm glad I'm doing this only for myself and not playing by anyone else's rules. Here's a sample of what my week looked like with just a tiny bit of 'cheating'...
Monday - I really shot this the day before (on Sunday afternoon). I was getting out of the truck at a strip mall on the northern edge of town when I suddenly noticed this barn across the road in the distance. I do love the zoom on my new camera.
Tuesday - You already know we had In-n-Out on Super Tuesday. :)
Thursday - This is to replace the pretty sunset photos I had taken. It was sunny last week and it began to feel like Spring was on her way. (I took a lot of photos on Thursday for two school events.)
Saturday - You'll have to settle for this cheesy, free souvenir photo from the golf tournament (with Jeffrey's closed eyes).
Although I was late for all of the prompts, I did write three poems yesterday for Sunday Scribblings (2/3 prompt was "foul" and 2/10 prompt was "fridge space") and Writers Island (2/4 prompt was "magic"). The poems are here: foul, fridge space and do you believe?
And now, I'm going to spend my holiday day off seeing if I can get caught up a tiny bit. ;) Happy Monday!
A Birthday Story for Baby Bug
When I got up this morning, Mozart said, "It's Baby Bug's birthday!" The green light is his favorite. I opened my green jar and got out some coffee. I walked over to the green plants and they said, "It's Baby Bug's birthday!" Do you see the cow that lives by the plants? Then I heard Connie the Cow say, "Mooooo...it's Baby Bug's Moo-day!" Connie the Cow likes to stand in the grass...all day...every day. I took my coffee into the living room and Charlie the Chair said, "It's Baby Bug's Birthday!" He has a really deep voice. When I walked out of the house to go to work, I stopped and tickled my toes in the green grass. Do you like to do that? I got in the car and buckled my seat belt. I felt really happy because I was wearing my favorite green sweater and my favorite green necklace. The necklace was made by a mermaid! When I drove down the street, I saw Mr. Sun--he came out today just for your birthday! I drove on the freeway to go to work and saw lots of green grass along the way. When I walked into work I stopped to say hello to Eddie the Elephant--do you see him? He's BIG! I turned on the lights and sat down at my desk. I have lots of green things on my bulletin board. Then I said hello to the plants and told them, "It's Baby Bug's birthday!" I like to write on green paper and I have a lot of it! Do you see the magic wand? When you wave it, it lights up and makes a sparkly noise! Someone brought me a cupcake today--how did they know it's Baby Bug's birthday?! That big guy in the window has green pants. My lunch had green beans and peas in it--yum. When the stop light turns green, I can GO. I stopped at Starbucks (Mommy likes Starbucks) and got my favorite drink, a green tea latte. Then I looked around in a store for awhile. Guess what I saw? Green shoes! We had Mexican food for dinner. Ole! It's guacamole! When we came home, I blew bubbles with my green ice cream cone. Then I made a cup of green tea...ate a piece of green chocolate...and came to say, I hope you had a GREEN day today! 'Night, 'night Baby Bug! Happy Birthday!!! xoxoxo
This is a Flickr photo set story for Baby Bug on her birthday...the Flickr set is HERE.
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Where does the time go??
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Oh yeah...in other news...this guy drew 11,000 people to our university's campus on the night of January 15th...following the Democratic debate in Las Vegas...
THANK YOU for all of your birthday wishes and comments. I'm a bit overwhelmed by them...because as I read them, a part of me wondered: what on earth did I do to earn such love and support?!
When I was younger, I used to stress out like you wouldn't believe over my birthday. Back when I drank (hello, insanity, my old friend) I used to plan my own birthday gatherings--sometimes hosting a party, sometimes getting together with friends to go out to dinner, whatever. And although I had some fun moments, I truly never really had a good time. You can guess why, right? Because I was trying to make my birthday perfect. God, I was an idiot. So I always spent my party time worrying and stressed out over trying to make it--and everyone around me--be whatever I had concocted in my head would constitute the perfect gathering. Somewhere along the way I had convinced myself (and done a good job of it) that if I could just once have a perfect birthday, my life would somehow magically transform overnight and become perfect. Mind you, I didn't waste my time actually thinking through whether or not this seemed remotely likely, possible or viable--I just thought it would happen by magic. It took me awhile, but I finally figured out that the magic isn't in the imagined perfection...it's in the LETTING GO.
Nowadays, I don't plan anything for my birthday. We didn't even know until 4:00 that we'd postpone having our family dinner--we had tentatively thought we might have a birthday dinner without my brother. He's missed every one of my birthdays since we came back to the States because he hosts a golf tournament in Mesquite, NV during this week. The first year I thought: wha...WHAT?! You're not going to be here for my birthday?! That was the old perfect demon talking. Then sanity took over and I realized: oh, okay, no biggie--we'll just get together another night and I can prolong my birthday celebration. (Sanity is so much more fun to hang out with than insanity.) So now I don't plan anything...I just let the day unfold...
Linda said she wanted details on the birthday cake Jeffrey made for me. I hope she wasn't expecting anything too elaborate. ;) Bless his heart, there it is in the upper left corner. (I don't know why the time on the coffee-maker is wrong...he must have unplugged it at some point...because I shot that about 5 am.) Then there was brie and a baguette (in addition to whatever each of us was eating for lunch) and another chocolate cake (and coffee ice cream, my fave) at work. The gift was from Carolyn and I just had to snap a photo of it before I unwrapped it because she always wraps her gifts so beautifully. It's three fabulous hurricane candles for our front porch now that we've redone the yard. Our Advanced Choir always comes into the office to sing "Happy Birthday" when one of us is celebrating one, so that was a treat yesterday...not to mention that the Choir Director brought cookies with her. And dinner was at Thai Nakorn, our favorite Thai place a few blocks from home. It's owned by the family of a student at my school (the mother is just a delight.) Notice my Thai iced tea...LOVE.
My Dad, never the king of subtlety, had already let the cat out of the bag that they didn't know what to get me (and I was no help at all--when my stepmother asked what I wanted for my birthday, I think my response was, "....uh....uh....I don't know...") so had sent me a check instead. Their cards (because it's his tradition to always give two*...and lest you think he sends my stepmother to the card store...oh no, my Dad is hugely sentimental and spends time in the card aisle himself picking out just the right ones) arrived yesterday along with a (very generous) check. (*This is a tradition Jeffrey adopted from my Dad years ago. So each year from each of them I get a sentimental card and a funny one.)
And there was something else in the mail yesterday...something I'd forgotten about... When I wrote my post about LEAP! being my theme word for 2008, I said that re the Creative Every Day project for the year, I'd told Leah that two things I really wanted to pursue this year were photography and poetry. I can't even begin to tell you how hard that was to say that 'out loud.' All those old voices came up... Who the hell are YOU?...What the hell makes you think anyone wants to see what YOU'VE photographed or written?...Have you not looked around the blogosphere?...Do you not understand that there are TONS more people out there more talented than you?...For god's sake, you don't even own an appropriate camera!... You know, the whole angelic choir. Cue the harp music...more like harpie music. And the thought that someone might pay me for anything I create. Let's not even go there... But I will tell you this: A couple of weeks ago, I said to myself--mind you, I didn't write it in a journal...I didn't post about it...I didn't even dare (yet) to write it on a slip of paper and put it in my God box--but I said to myself: this year, I'd like to be paid for my photography. And then the harpies got so loud that I had to quickly change the channel in my head. So imagine how I gasped for a moment when I opened our mailbox yesterday to find sitting next to my Dad's cards, an envelope from Ploughshares Fund. A couple of months ago, I got a Flickr mail from their Communications Director asking if they could use one of my photos in their annual report. She said they would, of course, give me photo credit and that they could offer a small payment. I just went back to look and that email arrived on Halloween. I'd forgotten about it! Sure enough, they used one of my candlelight photos (twice) of the Youth for Hope candlelight vigil in our downtown park on New Year's Eve 2006 (the one that Jeffrey and I helped to create)...and sent me a check...
I've had photos used online (with my permission) a few times, but this is the first time I've been paid for the use of a photo. And I can't tell you how happy it makes me that it's for an organization like the Ploughshares Fund and for a photo of a project that was so inspiring and for which I was so grateful to be a part of. 'Swords to ploughshares' is the idea of converting weapons over to peaceful applications. And two things really struck me yesterday along those lines. One is that we CAN make peace in this world if we want to. We live in such fear-mongering times that it can be hard not to get sucked up into that vortex. And the second thing that really struck me is that peace begins at home. And it's no accident that I put that "Choose peace" mantra on one side of my God box. I had such a great day yesterday, and I truly believe it's because I started my day by making that gratitude list (in the previous post). Compare that to the weird, off day I had on Monday where I started out the day by bitching and moaning about having to go back to work. So I'm going to make a conscious effort to adopt an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE this year. As the no-complaints challenge has shown me, I spend way too much time complaining and not nearly enough being thankful. So 10 things I'm grateful for on this 10th day of January...(I'm not going to post a gratitude list every day, but I just feel so blessed after that incredible day I had yesterday that I can't not do one today)...
1) declaring intentions and having them manifest
2) peace
3) photography
4) the enormous love that comes my way
5) more chocolate cake ;)
6) the willingness to learn from my (sometimes embarrassingly obvious) mistakes
7) family
8) friends (all of you)
9) coffee gift cards (since we're out at home) ;)
10) and, yes, those holiday lights on the bookshelves
I turn 53 today, so I thought it would be appropriate on this day when I'm gifted with good wishes and cards and gifts to offer up a gratitude list. Here are 53 things I'm thankful for today...in no particular order:
1. Jeffrey and the bond we share
2. waking up to find that he'd baked me a birthday cake after I went to bed last night
3. my health
4. my family
5. the opportunity to be an aunt
6. lattes
7. my brother's dogs (I love them so)
8. a job that gives me lots of paid time off
9. blogging and the extraordinary richness it--and you!--brings to my life
10. music
11. NPR
12. holiday lights gracing our bookshelves (we took down our tree yesterday)
13. my Well-Being cards
14. getting to eat birthday cake for breakfast
15. Larry David (This article made me laugh yesterday. Wish we still had HBO - I'll have to Netflix "Curb.")
16. knowing we'll probably see the family for dinner tonight
17. watching my nephew play basketball
18. MySpace (As I said in the previous post, the kiddos use it to email me.)
19. my camera (thank you again, E)
20. baby/toddler pix at Flickr which always make me smile
21. having two cars (yay!)
22. coffee gift cards
23. our little house
24. candles
25. Netflix
26. living downtown
27. long showers (landlord pays for water)
28. unexpected gifts (I'm a very lucky gal)
29. loads of thrift store books I haven't even read yet
30. The Gift (started reading it again yesterday)
31. birthday phone calls from family
32. our beautiful front lawn (it just makes me happy to look at it--still new to me)
33. chocolate
34. Twitter (so fun during the campaign!)
35. new journals
36. new soaps and gels
37. a new red bathrobe
38. the comfiest pair of pajama pants ever (Xmas gift from my mother)
39. getting to wear jeans to work
40. new slippers
41. handmade jewelry
42. the internet
43. community (that means you!)
44. e-cards (thank you!)
45. synchronicity
46. creativity
47. the power of love
48. the ability to heal
49. the desire to wish
50. the intention to be kind
51. the beauty of life
52. the magic to make dreams come true
53. the gift of another day to do just that
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Jeffrey turns 45 on the 29th. Happy Birthday to my love! xoxo
Ciara's 10th birthday party yesterday was quite the hit. A few of her close friends were there early to help with set up. The youngest guest, 3-year-old Gracie in the upper left corner, arrived wearing a pale pink tutu, white tights and brown cowboy boots. A get-up that her mother said she picked out herself. She was the cutest cowboy-rina ever...and I totally want that outfit. ;)
Guests were greeted by a 'red carpet' (a long piece of red fabric) that stretched from the curb to the front door. The girls were given single red roses by C's big brother, Zak, and then they were 'interviewed' by big sister, Kayla (who, from certain angles, is the 'separated at birth' twin of Guiliana on E!) When Kayla asked the girls if they had anything they wanted to say to Ciara on her birthday, the unanimous response was, "Happy Birthday, C!" ;) Chelle hung sheer black drapes in front of the front door, and I snapped individual shots of each girl in front of that backdrop with Ciara's birthday gift, a Nikon Coolpix. Chelle would later print the photos for the girls so they could put them in the picture frames that were part of their Hollywood-themed goodie bags.
Then the party moved inside. Chelle and her mom, Patti, made 90 glitter-covered red stars that were dangling from the ceiling and gracing the top of the black drapes that were moved inside to form the backdrop for the stage (the wooden coffee table). There were blinking star-shaped light strings and balloons and red Chinese paper lanterns and a multi-colored disco ball that Auntie and Uncle picked up at the mall in Sacramento the night before and the food table was all done in red. There was a hair coloring station set up on a trunk in the living room, which as you can tell from the later photos was very popular. And a craft table (two wooden TV trays pushed together) was in front of the living room couch where the glue guns were already warm so the girls could decorate their plastic champagne flutes (in their goodie bags) for a birthday toast with sparkling apple cider. (An idea I'm totally copying if I ever get around to throwing a party...)
Then it was into the family room for the highlight of the night--karaoke! They own a karaoke machine (and, yes, they entertain a lot), and Chelle rented a fog machine. Between the stage and the fog machine and the disco ball, it made for a pretty cute set. Skinny birthday candles were put in the tiered cupcakes so we could sing "Happy Birthday." There was another platter of cupcakes that had paper umbrellas in them.
Chelle's a fabulous hostess for all ages, and she threw Ciara a great party. (And I just realized there's no photo of her here, but that's her arm holding the video camera in the middle of the bottom row.) When I left, the girls were changing into their pj's for the sleepover, and when I checked in about an hour later, they were playing hide and seek in the dark.
She barbecued steak and chicken breasts, and served them with toothpicks in bite-sized chunks. She also had chips and salsa; cheese, ham and crackers; a huge bowl of Chex mix; and a big hit--a fondue pot filled with chocolate for dipping strawberries.
The girls were told they could dress up or down, and several, including C, went for big make-up, including false eyelashes. It was a very fun party.
These girls had no problem channeling their inner rock star. You could tell that each one loved what she was wearing. And they each had their own style--one girl arrived wearing a black Beatles cap sideways. Victoria and Gracie's middle sister, Abby (left photo, middle row) who's only 6, was sporting ripped black tights and brown cowboy boots with that checked shift. These girls have style for miles, and it was delightful--given all that we talk about on our blogs about unleashing our authentic selves and our creative essence--to see them so full of themselves. And I mean that in the absolute best way. They posed, they danced, they sang with exuberance! It's a lesson we could all take to heart. ;)
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Jen Gray was one of the first bloggers I 'met' several years ago when I was new to blogging and living a very isolated life in the islands, so she'll always have a special place in my blogging heart. This video of her has been making the rounds...and rightly so. Given what I witnessed with the girls last night, I'd say Jen definitely knows how to "party like a rock star!"
Ciara won't turn 10 until the 11th, but her Dad's leaving town early today and won't be here next weekend. So we had our family birthday last night, at the restaurant of her choice for it--Caffe Italia here in Davis. (That girl could eat pasta morning, noon and night.) Clockwise from top left: Marty and Chelle, brother and sister-in-law)...Ciara and her good friend and gymnastics teammate, Jessica...Kayla (17) and Zak (16)...me and Jeffrey...C and me...Jessica. Marty had taken Ciara and Jessica to Arco Arena in Sacramento before dinner to see "High School Musical on Ice," hence the matching pink "HSM" caps. ;) When we asked how the actors were, C quipped, "There were a bunch of 'grandpas' in the show..." You know, guys that were really OLD...like 18 or 20. :) And, yes, she liked her dream chair (which I brought into the restaurant). She especially liked that it's going to glow in the dark. She's growing up way too fast...could someone make it stop, please?
I am very blessed in my life in so very many ways. I received so many wonderful birthday wishes on several fronts. I hope I can remember that in those occasional dark moments that creep into my mind. I have MUCH to be grateful for.
Turning 52 today. Can hardly believe it. Surely I was just 35 last year. I used to get COMPLETELY stressed out over my birthday--not over turning another year older, but over trying to somehow have the 'perfect' birthday day. Can't believe how far I've come. Birthdays and holidays have become so relaxed for me anymore. Funny how life gets easier once you let go of expectations. ;)
