The Day After

Okay so my birthday has come and gone. My face is an inch from the mirror and I’ve been thoroughly studying my features looking for any changes but I look pretty much the same as I did a couple of days ago when I was 43. As a gift to myself, I took off from work, the day of and the day after my birthday. I know what you’re thinking and no, I didn’t have anything huge planned. Since my husband had to work, he’s taking me out to dinner this weekend. Even though I asked, he still won’t give me any hints as to where. He did give me an early gift and a card that I truly love because of the touching message he wrote inside. My older daughter made me an awesome lunch/breakfast, since she’s on a totally different schedule than me, (ahhh… the joys of college life). She also decorated like you wouldn’t believe and baked me a chocolate cake, (my all-time favorite)… bless her heart. Watch out Beyonce! My younger daughter, who has the singing voice of an angel, sang Happy Birthday to me. Thanks Sweetie! I love you. My sister, who lives 7 long hours away from me called, even though she was under the weather and my father called, too. Thanks everyone for making my birthday great!       

God has blessed me to see another year and as usual, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my life. I wasn’t always able to admit this before but I’m finally beginning to come to terms with the fact that I am a… (deep breath)… procrastinator. There, I’ve said it. My name is Dee and I’m a procrastinator and shame on me for passing the gene to both daughters. Here’s the thing, since I’m somewhat of a germ phobic, I don’t put off super important things like laundry and cleaning the house, (at least not for too long). I’m referring to things on a smaller scale, like the book that I’ve been working on for the past, (oh this is embarrassing), couple of years now. Did I mention that I was nowhere near finishing? I have recipes that are collecting dust that I’ve been dying to try out… someday. There’s a list of songs, beside the computer, that are just waiting to be downloaded. For whatever reason, I just seem to get distracted. In my opinion, there should be a procrastinator’s anonymous meeting held in every state to reach out to people like me. I can see it now. The day after New Year’s, People would finally take down those Christmas lights instead of leaving them hanging from their front porch all spring. Just imagine… all the things on every procrastinator’s ‘to do list’ would finally get done. Stress levels would be at an all time low and we could happily check each task off our lists, one by one, without singing, ‘There’s always tomorrow.' Movie category and Jeopardy question of the day: Who was Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’s girlfriend?... The answer is... Clarice.  

So, as I was drinking my coffee this morning, it dawned on me that I should follow through with one of my New Year’s resolutions. (See, I told you… you’ve just witnessed procrastination at its "finest".) I know, I know… I’m a few months behind schedule and the idea is to make improvements in your life at the start of the year. Honest, that really was the plan, really it was. You know, January and pretty much most of the winter was just one of those hectic times in my life and staying focused on my goals was bumped from top priority. The way I see it, it’s better late than never, right?

Anyway, I decided that even though I didn’t receive my invitation to the royal wedding, I still want to go to the U.K. It’s funny because I’m not exactly sure when it was that I was bitten by the British bug but it’s a trip I’ve dreamed about taking for as long as I can remember. Today, after receiving my meager earnings for two weeks of hard work, I stuck $50.00 in an envelope and marked it ‘UK’ in bold fat letters, with a sharpie. Once it was done, I hid it in my super, top-secret, highly classified, ‘if I told you, I’d have to kill you,’ spot. It’s really weird but even though it still feels far away, now, I feel a teensy bit closer to one day making it to the other side of the world.