Sometimes I Write

We got a dog today…sort of. Our neighbor brought over a dog and asked us if we want to adopt it. She’s a cute beagle/terrier mix and pretty calm so far, but I just don’t know. I’ve had pet allergies my whole life, I don’t need the responsiblity of a pet when I have three very busy children, and I don’t know the first thing about owning a dog. All of my friends are laughing their heads off right now reading this. ME of all people getting a dog on my birthday! Ironic. I don’t like dogs. I’m actually afraid of most of them. I was attacked by my friend’s dog when I was 15. I have a huge scar on the side of my face/ear where I had to have multiple stitches to repair the damage done. Ever since then – I don’t like dogs. I’m not even sure if I liked them before that. I’m not a cat person either, or gerbils, or birds, or any other pet. I am fully convinced that God made some people to love animals and some to just, well, tolerate them. Please, no hate mail from you animal freaks out there.

I’m a little disappointed. My birthday happend to fall on a Saturday this year. I’d love to be at the half price sale at ARC, and having chai with a friend. I’d love to be hanging out with my whole family or having a date with Benny. BUT, he’s working until 8 or 9 tonight, my friends are all busy and even if they weren’t, I don’t have a babysitter. The kids aren’t minding me very well today and now I have this dog to deal with and the stress of deciding whether or not to keep it. Benny said it was up to me…great. The light at the end of my tunnel is my upcoming night out with Rebecca, my college friend that lives here. Dinner and going to Sing Sings. Our friends Corey and Tricia are coming over at 6 to babysit until Benny gets home. Benny and I will do something to celebrate on Monday.

Thinking positively, I have received a lot of phone calls today – my Mom even sang to me. I feel special! 🙂

So what is it about birthdays that we get it in our heads that everything is supposed to be just perfect and go OUR way for the day? Is that even real life?

Last month one of my street friend’s birthdays happened to fall on a Thursday – which means she spent it with Dry Bones. At the feeding that night, a few of the kids got in a fight, and my friend also received some alleged bad news from another streetkid. My friend threw a huge fit, crying, yelling, and drawing as much attention to herself as possible. She said more than once – “And it’s my birthday – nothing is supposed to go wrong today”.

Where does that come from? At what point do we learn that the world is supposed to revolve around us every year on the anniversary of the day we were born? I think your birthday should be special. It’s a day to celebrate who you are and who you are becoming. But life is life every day of the year and sometimes stuff happens. Unplanned stuff.

What’s with people who say, “I don’t celebrate my birthday anymore”? Do they think they aren’t worthy of celebration? Are they just enduring each year as it comes and goes? That’s sad.

As a mom, I think I should get a present each year on each of my children’s birthdays…afterall…I did all of the work on the day they were born! haha

Technically I wasn’t born until 11:29 p.m., so my birthday only lasts for 31 minutes…or so my Mom used to joke.

Here’s some July 29th trivia for you:

Famous people born on this day:

Benito Mussonlini 1883
Clara Bow 1894
Peter Jennings 1938
Wil Wheaton 1972 (that could explain the crush since we were born on the same day in the same year…I wonder if he was born in Californina too?)

1754 – The first international boxing match was held. The 25-minute match was won when Jack Slack of Britain knocked out Jean Petit from France.
1890 – Artist Vincent van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France.
1914 – The first transcontinental telephone service was inaugurated when two people held a conversation between New York, NY and San Francisco, CA. (And now we can talk to someone on the other side of the world!)
1940 – John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.
1950 – Disney’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” was released.
1957 – Jack Paar began hosting the “Tonight” show on NBC-TV. The name of the show was changed to “The Jack Paar Show”. Paar was host for five years.
1958 – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was authorized by the U.S. Congress.
1968 – Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s stance against artificial methods of birth control.
1981 – England’s Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married. (I watched it on t.v. on my 9th birthday – dreaming of being a princess myself one day)
2005 – Astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun.
2004 – The first episode of “Blue Collar TV” aired. That one is for Benny!;)