Getting Older & Loving It! on Tuesdays with Taryn

Life really does zip right by. A few years ago, I remember crawling back in bed upon the dawning of my birthday, after everyone was gone to work and school, so tired and wore out, physically and emotionally that I intended to sleep a good portion of my day away.

This year, I got up yesterday morning, baked my cake, which is probably going to wreak havoc on me by the time this week is over, especially since I'm endeavoring not to "diet" but to make sustainable changes to my eating habits along with the adage that I should "Move More, Eat Less."

I had lost 11 pounds before my birthday, so here's hoping my birthday dinner (Mexican food, which I couldn't account for the calorie/fat count) and the slice of cake don't do me in completely.

I started laundry, did my yoga, ate a sensible breakfast and got all my email and messages out of the way and I actually felt spunky, which I haven't felt on my birthday in quite some time. Such a HUGE difference from how I felt 3 years ago. Later in the day I did a few low impact Everybody Dance exercises.

I received a little money from my parents, my grandmother, my in-laws. The mask above comes from my husband's dad and his wife to add to my mask collection in the living room. LOVE IT! So beautiful.

We've made plans to go out to eat with my mother-in-law and her husband later this month to combine my birthday and hers into a nice outing and she called me yesterday and talked for a while.

Hubby tried to surprise me- mostly because he kept asking me what I'd like and I kept telling him I didn't really know what I wanted. (I can be as bad as him when it comes to this sort of thing. He's SO hard to shop for, and I get frustrated when I can't find a nice gift for him for his birthday or Christmas.) I just don't see the point in spending money on things unless I really need it or want it desperately and I just don't have anything I feel is necessity or something I want so badly at the moment that I can't live without it.

They were showing a Maroon 5 commercial on television the other night because of an upcoming concert in Nashville and I told hubby, "There, that's what I want."

He said I should have said something sooner.

I said, "No, that's what I want. I want Adam Levine."

He denied me that gift and I pouted momentarily. ;)

He did get me a small pot of Rieger Begonias and a latte mug with a sock puppy (I'm not a fan of the monkeys, but a puppy is all right.) Bless him, he accidentally dropped the bag when he got home and broke the cup. {shaking my head} It's the thought that counts and I glued it back together and told him I could use it for an ink pen mug since I don't really drink a lot of coffee or cocoa or hot tea from a cup that big anyway.

As for my birthday money, I am contemplating the idea of an outfit or two for my yoga. The clothes I have aren't exactly right for it and not always comfortable, so that's a thought. Or maybe a new mat. My other one is showing some wear and tear or maybe a new yoga DVD. I will have to think on it for a while longer.

I was really surprised at how happy I was though and how good I feel to be at this 30-something place, a place I used to think was SO OLD. I guess I could be older, but even then it's all a frame of mind, I do believe. Our bodies might age, but our hearts and minds don't have to. I think that's part of the secret to a long life- positive attitudes and a willingness and desire to stay young at heart.

My daughter reminds me of this on a daily basis and yesterday she surprised me with a homemade birthday card, which she worked on at school and then had her teachers, classmates, even kids on the bus coming home, SIGN it to wish me a happy birthday. She even had my husband and stepson sign it too before she gave it to me.

And here I'd been shocked and overwhelmed with emotions all day because I had so many friends and family wishing me "Happy Birthday" on Facebook. For it's faults, FB is a wonderful place to be on your birthday. The amount of friends who left me comments yesterday just floored me and I was left with a multitude of smiles, a few tears and a heart full of gratitude because I felt just about as special as anyone can.

All in all, yesterday was probably one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time, not for gifts, but just acknowledgement and appreciation for my family and my friendships. I truly am blessed to know so many wonderful people and that makes getting older a much easier weight to bear. Thanks Bunches to everyone!

Have a GREAT Tuesday!

Memory Lane Monday- Birthdays

My birthday will arrive before I do another Memory Lane Monday, so I think today I'll reminisce a bit about the birthdays I had growing up. I never had birthday parties with friends- well, not the kind my parents planned, though in my teens I did things with friends, but when I was much younger I do remember my grandmother (my mom's mom) always made sure to get me a store bought cake from the grocery. The ones with the shortening frosting and rose buds and fancy piping and the little plastic "Happy Birthday" sign in cursive.

She always tried to make sure she got a "black & blue" cake. For some reason, I deemed chocolate worthy of that distinction, even with the mixed vanilla and chocolate creme sandwich cookies that were always in the cookie jar at my grandparents' house- you know the ones, the grocery store versions that were sort of like Oreos.
I honestly don't know where I got the idea, but it would seem that "Black & Blue" have been following me for the better part of my life and ironically, I realize now that the majority of my color scheme for this blog, my website, my Twitter profile, my tattoos, are in shades of black and blue as well. Perhaps that is significant in a way I cannot comprehend, but I digress...

What do I remember about birthdays, most vividly? Whether my parents bought me a cake or my mom baked one- almost always chocolate, if my birthday were on a school morning, my mom would get me up and make me blow out the candles and make a wish before I got on the bus. And I got to eat CAKE for breakfast. (*Flash* to Bill Cosby's "Dad is great, he let us have chocolate cake!)

I remember sharing my "birthday" with my sister, and vice versa—being it was just us two girls, she would get a small gift on my birthday and I would get one on hers in July.

At my grandparents, someone generally gave me birthday spankings, with "one to grow on." I remember the year my parents got me Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits Volume 2- I WORE that record out. It skips so bad, especially on the last song- Xanadu. I so wanted to be Olivia when I grew up. LOL I remember my grandparents on my dad's side getting me Sleeping Beauty on Disney VHS and we watched it together and I was SHOCKED beyond measure when Maleficent cursed.

When I was 14 or 15 my grandma on my dad's side presented me with a beautifully bound collection of classic novels, Alice in Wonderland, Little Men, Robinson Crusoe, to name a few, but I believe it was a 10-12 book collection (and perhaps I'll touch back on this set of books in a later blog). I believe that was also the same year she presented me with these two beautiful iridescent cat figures.


Also for my 15th birthday, my parents got me a book of poems called To My Daughter with Love on the Important Things in Life by Susan Polis Schutz. My parents wrote a little something inside the book to me and I intend to follow below them, with a note to my daughter and give her that same book on her 15th birthday.

That was also the same year that my father gave me an autographed copy of In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason as a late Christmas present when the construction company he works for built her house. (More on that in a later blog as well.)

I'm sure every birthday has some significance- something more than just aging another year. Each are special in their own way and each either teach us something new about ourselves as we grow, or they gift us with treasures of the heart.

What do you remember about birthdays you've had?
Are there any that stick out more than others, or that hold a special place in your heart?
Please share!