The Big Five-Oh!

I've never looked forward to January. It's always just been a fact of life for me that after Christmas there's this period of dull, dreary life-apathy until Easter rolls around. Sure, there are a few little breaks. I make resolutions to try to keep me motivated through the new year. Then Valentine's Day is here and I have an excuse to make chocolate fondue, or heart shaped vegetable patties for the Captain's dinner. St. Patrick's Day is always fun. But really, overall, it's like this long, miserable slog to spring. Well, not anymore!
If there's only one thing I've learned from the native Manitobans I've met since moving to this freezing ice patch, it's that you have to just make the best of winter and use it to your advantage. Does this mean I'll be taking up skiing, snowboarding and ice fishing this winter? Perish the thought!!
I am a hibernator. The lack of sunlight and fresh air is probably part of the problem. So, yes, I'll attempt to get out more. But what I'm really talking about is creating more reasons to celebrate.
The Captain and I celebrate our birthdays just a couple of weeks apart in the summer, and our anniversary falls smack in between. Firstborn was a September baby and Rosemary's Baby came around shortly before Christmas. As a result, we have no birthdays to celebrate right at the time of year when we need to pack in all the celebrating we can. So I've devised an occasion that I think is nothing less than inspired. I call it the "Half Birthday."
Today is the Captain's half birthday. He is exactly halfway between his last birthday and the next one. Now, I see no need, in this economy, to go overboard with gifts and full-sized cakes and whatnot. But a few chocolate cupcakes never hurt anyone. If anything, they create just enough goodwill to be considered a health food.
I also have another small, personal victory to celebrate. Today marks my 50th post. Who knew way back in September that this wasn't just another of my whims, destined to be set aside and forgotten after only a few posts?! I'm actually more passionate about blogging now than I was 50 posts ago! At this rate, I may end up writing a book! Alright, I'm getting crazy. But 50 posts is still a pretty good reason to celebrate.
So those cupcakes I was talking about yesterday (which turned into bran muffins when I realized the effect of cupcakes 2 days in a row on my waistline--see photo above), will be made today. And frosted. And Firstborn will make up a Half Birthday song for us to sing to the Captain. And we will get through another day of winter unscathed. It's all good.
As for the rest of winter, my half birthday will come the day after Valentine's Day (both of which I'll be celebrating with the kids while the Captain gallavants around France. Okay, he'll be stuck in some godforsaken French field ordering someone to shoot something, without even a day off to go buy me a classy souvenir or take a shower. Still. He'll be in France.). Firstborn's half birthday is a few days after St. Patrick's Day. And by the time we celebrate Rosemary's Baby turning 3 1/2 it'll be time to get the garden put in and we'll be home free. It's the perfect plan!
So, stick around for my next 50 posts. Between the mess, chaos and mayhem around here, I should have enough material to keep me blogging until my laptop dies.

Comments

Janine said…
Happy half birthday to everyone! and congratulations on 50 posts.
Can you e-mail me your snail mail address if you would...
Your posts make my day!
January 28, 2009 at 7:13 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm Too Old for This @!#%

Between Christmas and the New Year, I decided to treat myself and subscribe to In Style magazine for a year. I like clothes and makeup and all things girly, so it seemed like a fun thing to look forward to receiving in the mail every month. And it is. But I have some complaints, and I think they have more to do with ME than the magazine. WHO?! : In my teens and 20's, if you named a celebrity--a singer, actor or anyone famous for anything --I'd have been able to pull up a mental image and a list of things they were famous for. Today, I flip open the pages of my magazine, see an actual picture of a celebrity with their name printed underneath, and I STILL have no idea who the hell I'm looking at! Kristen Stewart --hmmm...name sounds familiar...is this someone I went to high school with?! Judging from her youthful photos, I'm guessing not. At least HALF the people featured in this magazine elicit this response from me now. Apparently, I really need to get with the program...
Read more

The Luck Of The Irish

Image
As far as I know, I do not even have 1% Irish in me. The last time I looked into it, I found that I was 99.9% English with, I think, a tiny smidge of Scottish if you go back far enough. This, however, does not stop me from going hog wild on St Patrick's Day. I already have the beef marinating for my Steak and Guinness Pie tomorrow. This year, it seems I've cashed in all those lucky four-leafed clovers I found out back as a kid. In just over a year, I have won no less than FOUR blog giveaways! Blogging is turning out to be better than the lottery! Two of those giveaways I won this month within a week of each other. A big thanks to Nezzy for the fantastic $40 gift code at CSN Stores , which I gave to my overworked mom who has been playing nursemaid to my dad after his knee replacement surgery. At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, anyone with a man around the house knows what it's like to look after them when they're under the weather. Am I right?! My mom dese...
Read more

Real vs Fake

Image
The Captain has only been gone 2 weeks. Already I've committed the ultimate marital sin. You hear stories about the things wives get up to while the husbands are serving overseas. The wife who moves a new guy in the minute her husband's gone. The wife who clears out the bank account and does a runner. The one who takes all his extra tour money and spends it on new shoes. I never thought I'd become one of those nuts who does something crazy while he's away. But I have. Yesterday, I bought one of these: Okay, fine. For the average marriage, this is not the ultimate sin. But when the Captain finds out, things may get a little heated. You see, the Captain grew up with a real Christmas tree in his living room every year. It's a tradition that is important to him, and one on which he will not compromise. I grew up with a fake one, so the idea of a real tree doesn't bother me too much. I admit, I like the gorgeous, fresh pine smell that fills the room when you bring ...
Read more