Happy Birthday to Me!

As much it embarasses me to admit this, its my 37th birthday tomorrow and somehow, I can't help but notice how my birthday celebrations have changed over the years.

As a kid I was not accustomed to the regular birthday parties where there would be lots of other kids, balloons, cake and candles to blow. After all, I had five other siblings, so the the family was all I needed to celebrate. My birthday celebrations were mostly low-key events, a special dinner of my choice with the family was enough to make my day. Birthday gifts were not really necessary, but very much appreciated whatever came my way. After college, celebrating with different groups of friends became the annual ritual. This was expensive, lots of of sleep lost due to late nights but still lots of fun. Now that I have a family, the birthdays I really look forward to are those of my kids. As for my birthdays, I've gone back to the low-key celebrations with my hubby and kids here in Adelaide. Must be a sign of getting old. I am not even comfortable with the idea of admitting it is my birthday to other people, and especially not celebrating with a party anymore.

But all that has changed this time because Bianca simply insists on it! In her mind, all birthdays should be celebrated in one way or another as we have done with her. It may not be a party all the time, sometimes a picnic, a movie or a trip to the beach will do. When she found out I was having a birthday soon, she insisted that I invite my friends over this weekend and celebrate. And since she (and her little brother) is the boss of this family, I suppose I have no choice! Hubby has even eagerly volunteered to cook (more than his usual share) for this celebration.

After all, there is much to celebrate as we are all in good health, good company, and good spirits and quite grateful to be where we are now. At this age we start counting our blessings more ... because its much more fun that counting the candles on my cake, hehehe.