Last week I entered uncharted territory – my last year as a 20-something. That means this time next year; I will be halfway to 60. Oh dear. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I guess I need to just take one year at a time – that is more practical and less stressful (for the most part).
When I was growing up, my birthday was always a big deal. I am an only child, so I had the month of June (and every other month) to myself. School was usually over by the time my birthday rolled around and everyone was ready to celebrate summer. Sadly, I haven’t had a theme party in over a decade, and when you work full time, there is no such thing as summer break anymore – so my birthdays aren’t as glamorous as they once were.
Parish’s birthday is two days before Christmas, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. My sister-in-law was born on Leap Year, so technically, her birthday only comes every four years. Of course, she celebrates every year, but not seeing your day on the calendar would be disappointing.
Parish took me out to dinner at one of my favorite Irish pubs – Hibernia in west Little Rock. It was fantastic. I had my pick and chose Hibernia because they have some of the best fish-n-chips in central Arkansas and their curry sauce is simply divine. It was a lovely evening, and although there wasn’t a Barbie birthday cake or balloons floating around everywhere – it was still great.
The celebration continues this week – it’s my four-year wedding anniversary on the 15. June is now a very busy month – especially the first couple of weeks. I already gave Parish his gift. It wasn’t too personal, but he wanted to buy this new stereo for his truck, so I have him some moola. It might not be the most romantic gift, but he is really happy with his new radio/CD/DVD/Bluetooth/NASA-launching device.
He works in construction, so getting him clothes or a new pen set is pointless. I like to believe that I’m a lot easier to buy for: jewelry, perfume, clothes, shopping sprees, day trips, cute puppies and loose diamonds. I’m a typical girly girl, but really I would be happy with anything Parish gave me. I feel bad because he is hit with a double whammy this month, but it’s only this crazy once a year.
When we were planning our wedding almost five years ago, I actually had the thought of having our wedding on my birthday. A lot of people thought it was a really cute idea of looking back, I’m so glad we decided to nix that idea. I like celebrating the day I arrived on Earth and the day I married my No.1 friend separately.
We originally wanted a May wedding because June is so cliché, but due to the timing of my lease and our move to Arkansas, we moved the date to June. In the end, our wedding was as close to perfect as humanly possible, and I still got June 8 all to myself.
I have some high expectations for the year ahead, but I’m going to go against my worrisome ways and enjoy myself. It seems like the world hands out an imaginary list of what you should have accomplished by the time you are 30, and I still have some unchecked boxes. But I still have a year to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up, buy something within a white picket fence and find the solution for world peace.