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!

#ThursdayswithTaryn~ Age & Perception of Ourselves

morguefile (mcandea)

The other morning before my kids left for school, I was telling Girly Girl to scoot out of my way so I could get past her and I started singing ♫I like to move it, move it...♫

Little Man chimed in and then commented that it reminded him of Madagascar and King Julien. Well, yeah, it would because he wasn't old enough to remember when that was actually a pretty popular dance mix from Reel 2 Reel that I heard in the club. I even have a cassette around here of Dance Mix music from 1994, I believe that has the original version on it. That was way before he was born!

I told the kids (9 & 13) that I used to hear it at the club. Little Man looked at me like I was speaking Greek.

"A what?"

I said, "A dance club. I used to go with one of my best friends all the time."

Girly Girl said, "yeah, but I bet you didn't dance."

I said "Of course I did. I used to shake my rump."

This elicited all kinds of giggles and laughter momentarily because even I have to admit, rump is a giggle worthy word.

When they finally stopped laughing, I told them, "I'm not joking...you know I wasn't always the frumpy housewife and stodgy mom you all know. I was young and fun once."

Wow...talk about a revelation in my perception of myself.

I mean, I've always thought I was a pretty "hip" mom and you all know I'm the bomb-diggety, but when I find myself having to explain things to my kids like that, it really gives me a bone to chew on. I don't like the taste of it- makes me feel old and stale.

I don't think about it a lot, but the view I had of myself at 10, 20, 30 and all those ages in between and beyond represent varying degrees of my perception of myself and I'd say its like that for all of us.

My sister sent me a letter and included this list of character traits that she found online, wherein it says that characters and real people, have unique qualities called traits. It's the short-list of attributes people can have and used for examples for helping write book reports and essays. She told me what she thought were hers and what she sees in me, then asked me to look through it and pick the ones I feel most sound like me from my POV. Her point was that we are the sum of all our parts.

Here are a few she thought fit me~

• fun-loving
• imaginative
• daring
• considerate
• smart
• loyal

It's also funny to see someone else's perspective of ourselves. I don't imagine myself as daring by any means. In fact, I often feel timid and unsure of myself and my decisions, even at my age. I believe I am the other things she picked, but I'm also

• plain
• messy
• dreamer
• short
•  reserved

(and a few other things)

Last night as I was trying to go to sleep and I kept thinking about it and it reminded me of my 8th grade yearbook. Yeah...at 15 other people's perceptions held a lot of weight and the words sweet and nice were the kiss of death for me. That and the reiterations of "don't change," "Stay the same." I was there in the middle between childhood and womanhood and I wanted to change.

I didn't want to stay the same sweet, nice girl. I wanted to be the sophisticated, beautiful woman who drew the right kind of attention from across a crowded room. I wanted to be the heroine in my own romance story and I would have given my left eyetooth to be told I was cool or cute or beautiful~ anything other than sweet or nice.

I saw myself differently, or I wanted to see myself differently— a sophisticated, beautiful, sexy grown woman. I wanted people to see me as a wild child, and not the goody-two shoes I was known to be, but I guess that wasn't built into my genetic material. If I've ever been the bad girl, the wild child, I hit my peak in my early 20s and it's been downhill since then.

Ironic then that my sister believes me to be DARING in my life NOW.

She couldn't know that about me, or could she?

Which leads me to a few questions~

What words would you use to describe yourself? Which ones would others use to describe you? Are there parallels? Do you find that some people know you better than even you know yourself?

Please feel free to come share with me today!