happy birthday

My birthday was last week, and for the first time, it lasted the entire week. Funny thing is, is that I really hated celebrating my birthday in the past. My parents had graciously left a bad taste in my mouth about my birthday when they claimed that I was too old to have birthday parties. I was seven years old at that time. Since then , birthdays and holidays were just plain BAD. There were many X-mas holidays where I was at home alone while the parents were gone on vacation. There were many birthdays where I would play at home alone in the back yard with imaginary friends... mostly dirt. All in all, they weren't that great. The bad taste festered into a truly hateful cynicism towards my birthday. When I confronted my mother about the fact that we did not need to celebrate her upcoming birthday, she replied, "Kids aren't supposed to have birthdays....adults are." Oh, tis, tis, tat, tat, bullshit, bullshit. But, I had to laugh and just shrug if off by thinking, "that's just her. Always need to play it in her favor."

Over the years, (especially being with the hubster), the negative affiliation towards birthdays and holidays has slowly subsided. This year, it was really quite special. It started with dinner with friends, then another dinner, and another dinner, a day at the Nob Hill Spa, and ended with a brunch. I know that all birthdays won't be like this one, but it was pretty damn nice. A fantastic week indeed, and was even more special since this has been a challenging year. It's a feeling of rejuvenation and all things new. Time to get my ass back on the train and get a move on.