It's My Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To . . .

Today I turned 56. I never thought about being 56 before.

Birthdays are not my favorite thing, but I suppose everyone has to have one at least once a year. I prefer to think of myself as "29 + postage and handling." That's good enough for me and I think it fits!

Angie has been reminding me all week, several times a day, that I'm the birthday girl. Now I ask you, how can one ignore one's birthday with her around?!

I came across this little ditty that I quite enjoy. I suppose that if one has to have a birthday one might as well find some humor in it . . .

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you reach BEDTIME. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90's, you start going backwards. "I was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"


This morning Duane fixed me one of his famous omelets. Brandon called first thing this morning (First thing for him, that is. He was still half asleep at 10:00.) By the end of the day I had heard from each of my children, my sister, and my friend Vickie. My parents dropped over mid-afternoon. We went out for Mexican food in the early evening, then came back and played a little 399 (Duane's invention). The evening was spent watching the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing, China.

All in all it was a good day -- 08/08/08. This date will never come again!