...when I'm 34
I almost died at my birth. I came out a scary shade of blue thanks to the umbilical cord that was twice tied and knotted around my neck. The doctor took action and I took my first gulps of oxygen thus securing my place in the world.
When I was one years old, my older brothers liked me.
When I turned two, Cheetos took the place of candles on my birthday cake because I loved Cheetos so much and who has time for candles?
When I was five I learned to swim and I learned that my brothers weren't nice anymore.
At six years old, I had my first slice of Sbarro's pizza and finally got a baby sister.
When I was seven I got a New Kid's on the Block sleeping bag.
When I was nine I went on a haunted house ride at Lagoon Amusement Park. Like, five times!
When I was eleven, my friend and I had the honor of being pooper scoopers in a parade my dad drove a carriage in.
By the time I was twelve I had ran over 300 miles throughout my entire grade school career, thanks to our school's running club.
When I was thirteen I wore blue velvet platform shoes.
When I was fourteen I rode in an airplane for the first time.
When I was seventeen I had my first boyfriend, ate a twenty piece bucket of chicken wings single-handedly and read Harry Potter for the first time. A big year for me.
When I was eighteen my brothers were nice again.
When I was twenty I made Harry Potter and Alfred Hitchcock movies with my cousins. Probably doesn't need to be stated but I did not have a boyfriend then.
When twenty one, I studied in London, tried naan for the first time and met the best friends I'll ever have.
When I was twenty three I directed a short film, graduated from college and got married.
When I was twenty five I became a mother of two.
When I was twenty seven I had three kids two years old and younger.
At thirty, I decided to take control of my life. I have since refused to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve.
When I was thirty three years old, all three of my kids were attending school and I was able to think in complete sentences again. At least for a few hours.
What a whirlwind of a life I've lived! You might be wondering why I'm sharing all these incredible highlights from my life.
The past few years I've selected a word to be my anthem, my inspiration for the new year, instead of half-hearted resolutions.
Yes, Natasha, we'd all like to lose twenty pounds but that would involve forgoing eating fistfuls of vegan chocolate chips alone in the garage, so let's be more realistic.
In the past my words of intention have been 'still', 'do' and 'create'. This year, no word was speaking to me. Instead, my age kept coming to my mind. My birthday is December 31, (yes, that means I go to bed early on my birthday) and I thought how amazing it was that I was actually thirty four years old. I thought of all the things I wanted to accomplish this year and knew nothing would make me more accountable to myself than my age.
I will only be thirty four once in my life. I have a set number of days to be this age, then it will be gone.
There are a lot of things I want to accomplish and I don't have time to waste.
One of those things I want to achieve is to be published. To make that happen, I'll probably be posting less on the blog, since I'll be writing things I hope to get paid for (if you want to pay me, however, I'd be happy to set up an account you can donate to).
I wish you success in all your endeavors this year. I'd love to hear what your goals are for the new year. Happy reading!