Happiness is.. celebrating birthdays!

I'm totally into celebrations. I love celebrating EVERYTHING (need I remind you about the wacky holiday calendar?) So you better believe that I'm gonna milk my birthday for all it's worth. 

Of course, some people like to hide away and not get any attention on their birthdays, but that is not me. The way I see it is we only get a finite number of these birthdays in which the day is all about us. Let's not let those go to waste. Here are things I do to celebrate this momentous occasion:

1) Eat sweet treats. This also means shamelessly telling restaurant personnel that it's my birthday and hope they'll bring me something free with a candle in it.

2) Celebrate for at least a week by having lunches, coffees, happy hours, and dinners, all in honor of my birthday. To prepare for this it requires a year's worth of going to lunches, coffees, happy hours, and dinners to celebrate my friends' birthdays and then subtly reminding them when my birthday is.

3) Flowers - a real treat since I'm tired of winter by this time of year. (This year I got flowers from my neighbor, Bonnie, but I'm not above buying them for myself!)

4) Get out of the winter cold!  One of my birthday traditions is to take a trip to a warm weather destination..  I'll be going to the Bahamas with BFF, Lisa, in a couple of weeks!

5) Phone calls, texts, emails, Facebook messages with friends and family.  I love every one of them!

FaceTime with my sister, Michele, from Southern CA

6) Enjoy every "Happy Birthday to You" song!

7) Enjoy new experiences and surprises! This year, my awesome BF took me to the Historic Boulderado Hotel and to see "Humor Me" with Elliot Gould at the Boulder International Film Festival. And my incredible kids are treating me to a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater next weekend.

8) Have a theme party...  Note: I did NOT do a theme party this year, because.. well.. I've learned that having a birthday party for yourself might be best saved for the "big" years.. (There's only so much attention I can ask everyone to lavish upon me.)  The "big" year for me is 2020..  and you'd better believe I'm going to want to do it up BIG.  That means I'm going to want participation from friends.. even virtual participation! Maybe a short dance video... maybe a message video... maybe some other theme-based homework.  Stay tuned and save the date: Feb.26, 2020!

Happiness is.. Your Grandchildren Playing with Your Old Toys

Almost every year one of my resolutions is to clean out my basement. This is tough for me because I have a big sentimental streak and just about everything in my basement is what I think of as my priceless junk.

I'm sure I'd get virtually nothing from eBay or Craigslist, but my stash includes toys and games, not only from my kids' childhood, but even Barbies from my own childhood with some of Barbie's clothes, hand-sewn by my mother.

Many people save these things, hoping that one day they'll be able to entertain grandchildren and relive memories.

Well, for me, that time has come! Not only am I lucky enough to have grandchildren who live close by, but they actually love coming to my house and playing with those old toys. Even as I was saving these old things, year after year, I'd think, "Any kids from this century will probably be bored with this stuff. Will they even know who 'Barbie' is? Will she and Ken still be together?"  Well, I'm happy to report that Ken and Barbie are still happily dating, going to the Goofy Golf Machine park.

I've gotten better about resisting my pack-rat tendencies, and getting rid of old stuff that can easily be replaced. But this is one time when I'm glad I stood up to my inner minimalist and saved my priceless junk, creating new priceless memories.