They Say It's Your Birthday

Today is my birthday and Chinese New Year – the Year of the Ox. I was born in the year of the Pig – because my birthday was before the New Year in 1960 which was January 28 that year – not the year of the Rat as I mistakenly believed for most of my life! Apparently it’s a little more complicated than I thought:

“The first day of the animal year is different from the Chinese New Year Day. The animal year starts on the first day of the Tiger month. Tiger month begins from the day when Sun enters ecliptic 315 degree position, which is around February 4 Gregorian calendar. That means the animal month is solar month, not lunar month. This is why many people who born in January or February confuse about their animal sign of birth year. To verify the exact animal sign of birth year goes to use the free online Chinese Astrological Animal Sign page.” (http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/newyeardays.htm)

I’m taking the girls out to dinner for Chinese food tonight. I’m really looking forward to it.

It’s odd having a birthday in January. On the one hand, it was always cool because if I didn’t get something for Christmas, there was a good chance I would get it for my birthday. On the other hand, all the fun happens in a short period of time and there’s a long time between events. Plus, people are a little burnt out from the holidays so another celebration is not always on their minds. I’ve found that if I want recognition, I have to make sure people remember. Another odd thing is that I know more people with birthdays in January than any other month – by a lot. I wonder why that is. Next year is the big 5-0 so I’m already prepping my friends that I’m expecting a party or some other event to celebrate.

Sooo, I watched the Miss America pageant Saturday night. I haven’t watched it in a few years and I knew they’d made some changes to try to ‘revitalize’ it, but I’m not sure they’ve succeeded. My mom and I used to watch it faithfully every September as I was growing up. I was always excited to see it. I especially liked to see ALL the contestants in their evening gowns. I remember one year Miss Oregon had a gown made with chicken feathers that were dyed yellow (at least that’s how I remember it). I don’t remember if they all did the swimsuit competition. But I missed seeing all the contestants have more opportunity to strut their stuff. I realize that they are also trying to keep the show two hours instead of the 3 hours I remember it being. But it just didn’t do it for me. And what is with the elimination process? We go from 15 to 12 but then only 10 do their talent. What is the purpose of having two get ready to perform only to end up sitting on the bench? Seems cruel to me. I was also disappointed that none of the 10 played the piano or some other instrument. I remember some wonderful performances. Same with the final seven with two left with nothing. I admit I fell asleep so I don’t know how they even went from 10 to seven but what’s wrong with going from 15 to 10 to 5? I did like that they used the recorded Bert Parks version of “There She Is, Miss America” (even though they did unceremoniously dump him years ago. I think that was the start of the decline of the pageant). So, even though Mario Lopez is cute as a button (whatever that means), I don’t think I’ll put any effort into watching it again.

My obsession with crocheting dishcloths continues. I made two more today! They don’t take long to make but I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all of them. I think that when I use up all the yarn, I’ll be done. Then Michael’s or Jo-Ann Fabrics has a sale and I buy more yarn and it continues to spiral out of control! But I have considered moving onto socks. I saw a book of patterns at Michael’s and a woman who was shopping told me how much fun they are to make. So beware that if you’re a good friend, you may be getting socks for Christmas this year!!

Walked 12 miles with friends on Saturday. We have so much fun with each other. We just genuinely like each other and enjoy one another’s company. You can learn a lot about someone when you walk with them for 2-3 hours each week. We all bring different perspectives yet we always have so much in common. We’re pretty good at keeping one another honest. It’s nice to have friends who’ll tell you like it is. I am so thankful to have them in my life.