When They Made Us They Broke the Mold. Probably Fired the Moldmaker, Too.

My favorite day of the year is almost upon us- April 30th (i.e., my birthday). I'm one of those crazy people who celebrates my birthday over the course of several days. I don't go all out with big parties where my friends shower me with love, attention and lots of expensive gifts. I prefer just spending time with family and friends, enjoying good food and good times, and laughing. If they want to give me expensive gifts, who am I to say no?
As I look forward to my birthday, I'm reminded of other April 30th babies. Who wouldn't want to share a birthday with Willie Nelson or Cloris Leachman? I mean, really, that's quite impressive. But I'm more proud of sharing this day with people that I know personally.
The first person that comes to mind is Little Rock. (**If you haven't noticed yet, I prefer to use aliases when writing about others so as to protect them from having to admit they actually know me.) Little Rock is the younger sister of my best friend from college- Drewty. When Drewty and I became friends and were getting to know one another by exchanging random, trivial information with one another, we realized that Little Rock was born exactly 8 years after me.
I remember my 8th birthday vividly. My family came to the big city (Columbia) to visit Riverbanks Zoo. After visiting the few animals that were living at the zoo back in the early 80s (Those red-ass baboons were there in all their glory!), we went to my aunt's apartment for cake & gifts. I can still picture my cake decorated with a likeness of Strawberry Shortcake (the sweet 1980s version NOT the hootchie mama version staring down at me from shelves in Target's toy dept today). I remember laughing with Drewty that I was probably laughing at the red-ass baboons while Little Rock was making her world debut. Kind of fitting since Drewty acts like a baboon from time to time. Seriously though, I feel like I got to watch Little Rock grow up from a cool high schooler to an amazing woman. She is super awesome at all things- especially softball. Homegirl can pitch like no one's business! I don't get to see her very often these days, but I always think of her on April 30th and send some positive vibes her way.
April 30th wouldn't be complete without BW. BW is my soulmate (in a totally non-romantic way). Picture it: I'm a wet-behind-the-ears health educator working in the Pee Dee and have to spend the day with a nursing student. Enter BW. He is finishing his nursing degree and getting ready to join the working world. Before he can graduate, he must observe a world-class health educator or fail his class miserably. Not really- but he did have to observe someone for his class and he got stuck with me. Anyway after a couple hours together, I wished him well and went on with life. A few months later, I go to the health dept to teach a class and who do I run into in the hall- BW! He works there now. Coincidence #1. Again, we wish one another well and go on with life. A year later, I am working in the big city (Columbia) and who started at the same health dept on the exact same day? You guessed it- BW! Coincidence #2. Several months go by and who gets an office down the hall from me. Yep- BW! Coincidence #3. Then I move to a new office on another floor. Hello howdy- 6 months later, BW has his own office across the hall!
Work coincidences aside, there's more: we share the same birthday only 2 years apart. Our brothers' birthdays are a mere 2 days and 2 years apart. By now, I've lost count of all the freaky coincidences, but along the way I've gained a wonderful friend. We laugh together everyday about practically anything and encourage one another with life's choices. We know that no matter where life takes us in the future we will always have a friend to lean on. And we know that our friendship is not based upon a series of weird coincidences.
So, here's a toast to 2 fellow April 30th babies. You ain't Cloris or Willie, but I couldn't have chosen 2 cooler people to share my special day with. Happy Birthday, Little Rock & BW!! And oh yeah- ME!

Getting to Know Me

I've been tossing around the idea of starting my own blog for several months. I'd think about it and then get to thinking about something else. I figured it was something that I would start and then let fall to the wayside like other attempts to document my life. I tried to keep a journal back in the day and was pretty consistent for a few years, but then I'd lose interest or get lazy. I'm not sure which is more accurate. So I figure I'll give this a try and see if I can entertain others and document my life all in one.
So... what can I say about myself? I appreciate sarcasm and use it daily- big shocker! Did you even read the title of my blog?! I enjoy reading all kinds of books and watching movies. I talk in movie quotes on a regular basis and believe there is an appropriate movie quote for pretty much any and every situation in life (even to describe my blog).
I try to be a supportive and compassionate friend. My friends will tell you that I love them with all my heart and would do anything for them. But I lack patience. I'm working on it, but I find myself lacking in that department. I don't have sympathy for people who refuse to better their circumstances while complaining about all that is wrong in their life. I consider myself a liberal conservative when it comes to political matters, but I don't spend a lot of time reflecting on politics. I feel there are more important things to focus on like the cover story on the latest issue of People magazine, my next outing to Pancho's for a Mexican food fix and planning days off work.
I'm married to an awesome man I'll refer to as Hubby. Hubby is a computer guru with mad photography skills. I can hardly sync my iPod to my iTunes, but he can troubleshoot my PC issues while enjoying episodes of Family Guy as he edits photos on his Mac. He's well-rounded like that.
We have 2 fur children. Kira Kitty is 13 years old and loves to eat, sleep, eat and get high on catnip. We've had to reign her catnip habit in because we don't want our baby to be on a future episode of Intervention. Sophie the Pug is 10 years old and just sleeps and eats. She has a random burst of energy about once every 2 years. Then, it passes.
That about sums me up. I'll do my best to entertain and enlighten with future posts.