My Virtual Birthday

Happy birthday to me!!  I love to write on my birthday because I believe it means I will be writing all year.  Starting out each new year on the right foot is important.

Today I went to the mailbox and low and behold, not a single piece of mail had been addressed to me.  Not one birthday card in the pile!  Not any junk mail or even a bill had been delivered just for me.  I remember the days I couldn't wait for the mail to come on my birthday, anxious to find the funny and colorful cards that hid inside.  But am I disappointed?

No!!!

Today I received more birthday wishes than could ever fit inside a black metal mailbox.  A text arrived on my cellphone at 6:28 am from my childhood friend, Georgia.  Since we've grown up and moved apart, she's never been much for sending a real card.  Her text was a wonderful treat.  After breakfast I checked my email.  My sister, Martha sent one wishing me a happy day and asking me to believe that her card was in the mail.  I can always count on a silly, one of a kind, original card from Martha.  The card, when it arrives later in the week, will help stretch out my celebration.  I like being pampered for more than just one day. 

Next I opened my Facebook page.  Let the party begin!  Friends I moved away from, people I once worked with, family who live close and those far away, nieces, nephews, young and old, all took the time to send me a message.  Fellow writers posted pictures.  Distance co workers, whose voices I've heard yet faces I have never seen, took time out of their day to honor me. 

My other sister, Susan, who had become my FB friend only last week, decided to use my birthday to jump head first into the world of social media.  She was pretty good at sending birthday cards via snail mail but usually they'd come the end of July instead of the end of August for some reason.  With the help of Facebook, now she has the day exactly right. Woo! Hoo!  I'm glad I was at the right place at the right time for her initiation into this new realm. It'll be fun reading her posts from now on.

Thank you to all my friends and family for all your heartfelt birthday wishes.  I feel so incredibly special.  My soul is grateful. My heart feels all warm and fuzzy.  I often think I'd like things to remain old school, slow and steady but I know that's not the way life is anymore.  I love technology but sometimes I don't understand all the ins and outs of the virtual world. It moves too fast.

But on my birthday, it's fabulous, fantastic, awesome and amazing!!!!!!

Birthday Blessings

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday.  As the years progress what becomes important in one's life changes.  As a child, I anxiously waited for my birthday to arrive.  Being that it came in summer before school started, I never got to take candy or cookies to school to share with my class.  Like a Christmas list for Santa, I made sure my mother knew what new outfits I wanted for my Barbie doll.  And if Ken got some new clothes that would be even more thrilling.   The new school clothes I got for me weren't nearly as interesting as dressing up Barbie in the latest fashions.

My mother would let us choose what we wanted for dinner on our birthday.  I would always choose shrimp or fish.  Being such a seafood fan at a young age, I was destined to end up in Florida where it is a staple of our diet.  My sisters and brother however, only picked at the fish and loaded up on cake and ice cream.  All of them have made their lives in Ohio where beef and chicken are plentiful.

Here's how I know things have changed.  My husband, Richard loves to give and wrap gifts for all occasions.  Here's the list of gifts he wrapped up for me to open on my birthday.   

3 red kitchen towels
A bicycle bell  (When he went to put the new bell on my bike, he dropped the old bell and it began to work again.  The new bell has to be returned to Wal Mart.)
A bag of candy corn ( I love candy corn and yes the Halloween stuff is already in the stores.)
2 black kitchen towels  (The more gifts to open the merrier!)
3 scratch off lottery tickets ( I won $5)
A bathroom scale

A psychiatrist would have a field day analyzing that list.  I can tell you what it means without making an appointment.  I need to do more housework, exercise and lose ten pounds.  But I'm not going on a diet until I finish what's left of my birthday cake and the bag of candy corn. 

I couldn't decide what I wanted for my birthday dinner.  The older you are, the tougher choices are to make.  I only knew I wasn't going to cook or use my new dish towels to clean anything.  Richard decided for me.

"I ordered a pizza.  It'll be ready for you to pick up in 20 minutes."

I got in the car and drove to the gas station.  After I filled up the tank with gas, I went inside to get my pizza.  Lo and behold, I spotted a penny on the floor.  I picked it up and put it in my pocket. And then I began to count all the wonderful things about having another birthday. 

I'm still counting! It's going to be a great year!

Happy Hurricane Birthday

There are quite a few perks to living in the State of Florida.  The sun shines nearly every day.  The sky is blue and the air is clean.  I don't own a winter coat or even a pair of boots.  Putting snow tires on a car every November is a thing of the past, as is scraping snow off the windshield.  I love my life here in Florida.  Except when it's my birthday.

I was born long ago in a northern spot known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  My life took me to Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio before it landed me back in Pittsburgh after graduating from college. I spent three more years there struggling to get up an down its hills in the middle of winter while trying to get to work on time.  During a fierce April snowstorm, I made the decision to head south.

I found a job, made friends, got married and became fully entrenched in my Florida life.   I knew when hurricane season was but never paid much attention to it.  Storms would brush by but we never lost power or suffered any damage.  I celebrated my August 26th birthday without interruption.

In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came through South Florida on August 24, a Sunday.  When my birthday fell during week, I'd celebrate over the weekend.  My birthday dinner was abruptly cancelled when the one and only named storm of the season approached us.  I probably made leftovers for dinner and I'm sure I didn't have any cake and ice cream in the house.  We lived far enough north of the storm that we didn't suffer much damage for which I'm grateful.  But using candles to light the house instead of blowing them out on a birthday cake really sucks. 

That was 20 years ago and thus my life without birthdays began.  The last week in August and the first week in September is the most active part of hurricane season.  And not every storm turns into a well known and named storm but many do.  Katrina made its first landfall in Florida on August 26 before picking up strength in the Gulf.  Irene came through last year dumping boatloads of rain, as did Fay and Debby in earlier years. 

This year we're watching Isaac.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a blustery, rainy and overall gloomy kind of day. Hurricanes can turn on a dime without notice so it's best to be prepared.  We never know when the roof might start shaking and the the sliding glass windows will begin to bow.  Once the power goes out, we'll have a mad scramble to eat all the food in the freezer before it spoils.  I'm heading out to the store to stock up on cake and ice cream and maybe a few candles too.  I'd rather eat cake than some old casserole that's been tucked away in the freezer unnoticed for years.  I'll have the bakery decorate it with a hurricane tracking map so I can follow Isaac's path as I un-celebrate another year.