26.3.12

special...and old

i made it through another birthday...

i have quite a habit of having rather shitty birthdays:

like birthday '03 where i spent it alone scaring myself shitless watching The Ring because my family forgot!

or birthday '04 where i broke my ankle. my gf at the time ran off to the Lake District (in the UK) on OUR vacation the WE had planned with OTHER people while i stayed on campus...on crutches...by myself.

or birthday '09 where it literally blizzard'd all over my damn birthday...i was stuck inside for days. I made my own steak dinner, baked my own cake and sang happy birthday to myself. it was bleak.

or birthday '10 where my mom came to visit me, found all my LESBIAN paraphernalia, outed me to herself and then proceeded to tell me that i would probably not be allowed to visit their house ever again or be allowed to be see my siblings...super bleak.

or birthday "11 where THE EX decided that it would be more fun to go get wasted with her friends instead of whatever it was that i wanted to do and then volunteered me to work in her mothers garden literally all damn day. just plain stupid. (don't get me wrong...i LOVE spending time in a garden...my garden, when i decide to garden...you know?)

so, this year, i had absolutely no expectations. I planned nothing, told no one; i pretended that i was not turning another year older...that in fact i was not entering another age bracket but was staying put in the "spring chicken" years.  and that no one or no force of nature was going to ruin my day!

First thing this morning i was smartly flipped of by an idiot on a bike...happy fucking birthday. 

HA!

all idiots aside, this birthday actually turned out quite well! 

My bff sent me a lovely wee package with a brand spanking new journal. YAY! 

My family sent me a box full of fun, little trinkets, a few gift cards, a new St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap and loving little notes. They've come along way since the whole "you can't come home" thing...my dad even sent a little limerick (half of which i did not understand) that basically alluded to the fact that i might actually be special. The idea that he still thinks i'm special, even after devastating them all by being gay, brought tears to my eyes. They have no idea what they mean to me!

"the roomie" treated me to a day of fresh mountain air, frosty brews and tickets to see James Taylor at Red Rocks... A-FUCKING-MAZING!

My Denver bestie left me the most hilarious voicemail about halfway through the day. You know the kind...the bestie kind. the laugh so hard tears are flowing kind. We have plans to paint the town red this friday!

Peeps at work sent ridiculous emails with pictures of cats blowing cake in a dogs face and asked the obligatory birthday question: "so, do ya feel older?"

In fact, this year, i do.

My body, in every way possible, is reminding me that indeed i am NOT getting younger...but much much older.

This past Saturday, I helped a friend move. What i thought was going to be a two hour affair turned into a nearly six hour shindig in which i think i used every muscle i never knew i had. I outdid my self trying to keep up with the men in the group...
(the only thing i couldn't do was help move the god-awful china hutch)
...and now my back in yelling obscenities at me. Saturday coupled with my 4 hour hike up Guanella Pass on Sunday has my body screaming from places i had forgotten existed. That didn't used to happen a few years ago.
I also found a whole new batch of grays....a few more crows feet and my affinity for staying out late in waning fast. 

Despite all the aches and pains (anyone have any ICEYHOT, by the way?) i feel quite contented with my life. I have wonderful friends. a family who is starting to come around. I beautiful puppy. A good job and a vacation coming up. 

any good shitty birthday stories out there?

6 comments:

MakingSpace said...

Happy Birthday! I'm glad you had a good one, and my birthdays tend to be mellow so I don't have any dramatic stories one way or another.

Wendi said...

Happy birthday! Sounds like this year was a pretty good one!

My birthday falls 7 days before Christmas and my family used to give me those combination Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas cards (yes, they did used to actually make cards like that). Now I occasionally get a "Happy birthday" inside a Christmas card. I grew up envious of those kids who had birthdays separate from Christmas.

My worst birthday was in '97. My Dad died of a massive heart attack 3 days before my birthday. I spent my birthday at his viewing. Looking back on it now, though, I guess it was sort of morbidly profound.

Alice said...

happy birthday! i've never had a good birthday, most years it was passed over when i was a kid,while my sisters was was always a big deal. it hurt when i was a kid, but now doesn't bother me at all.

Maria said...

Bing is not big on birthdays and will almost always forget mine if I don't remind her. Which irks the shit out of me because I have to turn into one of those people who give her a list of things that I want and then put: BTW, my birthday is January something.

But, my sisters never forget and always send me something great and Liv bakes me a cake every year: angelfood with orange drippy frosting.

So...you take the good with the bad, yes?

bookish butch said...

Happy belated birthday!!! James Taylor rocks for an old guy, right? and Detective Olivia, wow, she is so hot, I like her better with the short hair and the leather jackets in the time of Alex(subtext!!!) but, still, yum.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm odd but I love having birthdays, and I've had a few. I don't really do anything special but I feel like it is a special day that I can do whatever I want. Usually that is lunch or dinner with a close friend at a favorite restaurant and chocolate cake.
I like getting older at least more than the alternative. I think I know myself better as I age. Birthdays are often an introspective day with the emphasis on what I have accomplished and what I hope to still do. Maybe someday I will come to dread them but as long as I am healthy and independent I will continue to enjoy them.
I hope your birthdays get better with age. I am glad the last one was good and your family still wants to be a part of your life.