Revolution #38

Today marks the completion of my 38th trip around the sun.

I'm listening to music as I make butterscotch pudding. I have two friends who live within a mile of me who have the same birthday and we are celebrating together this afternoon.  The pudding is for us/them. Tomorrow is George's birthday. Saturday was Lucy's birthday. It's birthday week!

On my 38th birthday:

• I have blonde hair that goes down to my chin. My bangs are sideswept and it was cut with a razor which means that the ends are pointy instead of blunt. I am growing it out from the super short cut I got last year because I don't like going to get a haircut every 4 weeks but I also don't want a mullet.
• I have started exploring "wrinkle maintenance" options. Creams? Lasers? Injections? So many choices . . . 
• I am still 5'6" and I'm still carrying around the 15  okay, twenty pounds I put on 5 years ago. I don't really know where it came from, but I do know that I enjoy eating a few cookies here and there. Even if it means that I look like I enjoy a few cookies.
• I still can't figure out my "style." Every once in awhile I catch a glimpse of my outfit in a public mirror and react with an audible "ugh" and want to crawl into a cave and be naked for the rest of my life so that I don't have to dress myself. I bought myself a new pair of jeans for my birthday. Maybe they will turn my fashion world around. Here's hoping!
• I know what kind of furniture I like and how I want my house to look, but I am dissatisfied with my execution. None of my furniture reflects my personal taste and everywhere I look is clutter! Clutter everywhere! Even when I clean it all up. Sometimes I think that clutter comes with 5 kids and I should accept it, but then I go to my friends' homes and they somehow don't have the clutter. What am I missing?
• I want to paint every wall in my house.
• I love to cook and since I'm not in school right now I cook an average of 4 to 5 times per week. Meals are fairly predictable and simple but sometimes I get a hankering for something and go "all out." The last time I went "all out" I made Ina Garten's nicoise salad.  Our usual weekly menu includes italian beef sandwiches, tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches, spaghetti, and grilled chicken. 
• I'm a taxi driver and a cheerleader for 5 of the most interesting, funny, genuinely lovely people I know.
• I'm still making new friends and strive to maintain my old friendships. I have a few friends that I've known since I was a baby and my newest friend is someone I met in a choir that I was recently involved with.
• I make my bed about 4 times per week.
• I rarely clear off my bathroom counter. My makeup is always out. Hello, clutter!
• I attend church most Sundays and more than half the time it is without Robert. We have 9:00 church and I am usually fixing someone's hair and putting on somebody's shoes in the benches once we get there. But we are there!
• I feel like I still have adventures to experience, but I feel like the adventures I want to have are more of a younger person's game. What are the appropriate adventures for someone hurtling toward 40?
• My life is not what I expected it to be, but it is so much better than I deserve. I live in a beautiful corner of the world, I know interesting and amazing people, and I have a healthy, strong body. I'm not worried about how I'm going to feed my kids or what my husband is up to when he's not with me. In fact, I have a husband who can't wait for his work day to end so that he can come home to me. I get to see a desert sunset every evening and listen to the frogs croaking after dark. 

Happy Birthday to me!