55 Reasons To Celebrate 55 Birthdays

Where have I been?  On another blog actually.  
Well, not even for some time now.

A week ago, I celebrated my 55th birthday and decided to come up with 55 reasons to celebrate turning 55 and here they are (less the fanfare of my Facebook page):




Reason #55 to celebrate 55 birthdays: attitude is everything... I can chose to be old or magnify my 55 years and carry on.
I think you know what I chose.

Reason #54 to celebrate 55 birthdays: FAILURE!!! and I've had my share - only means I haven't succeeded yet. Stay the course, evaluate the goal and my intention - learn the lesson - get back up and on my path.

Reason #53 to celebrate 55 birthdays: Truth / Facts. I love when someone (or something) presents the truth or facts and something other than the truth unravels and falls. What a golden moment that can be - and I have experienced it often when I avail myself to good information. As we head into this Presidential campaign I am especially poised to do some fact checking - and I hope that there will be some pillars of truth available.

Reason #52 to celebrate 55 birthdays: randomness! I tend to love order and plans and patterns and lists and schedules but I have learned to appreciate the random willy nilly in life and wow can it be fun.

Reason #51 to celebrate 55 birthdays: the kindness of strangers - people don't know you but quickly tear down the walls and set up as a friend. In the last week - I was asking complete strangers for a hug because it was my birthday and NO ONE turned me down. This is only one a recent example - I've enjoyed the kindness of strangers numerous times in my 55 years.

Reason #50 to celebrate 55 birthdays: diversity - what a joy it is to have in my life

Reason #49 to celebrate 55 birthdays: second chances (and third and fourth) we're humans and we need to be allowed to recover from our less than divine moments. I'm so glad people have given me another chance.

Reason #48 to celebrate 55 birthdays: YOU - I celebrate all of you who keep up this social media thing - inspire me, console me, help me, encourage me, and give me the opportunity to do the same for you. Take a look and share a smile.

Reason #47 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I celebrate everything I can still remember.

Reason #46 to celebrate 55 birthdays: science is magnificent and while I don't understand everything, I embrace the knowledge. I celebrate everything that has been added to the collection of science since my birth. For me, science is the study of what God created for us and the more we know about it - the more we understand His love for us.

Reason #45 to celebrate 55 birthdays: ability to change course. I said quitters never win but sometimes it makes sense to let go of the old and do something new and I've learned to be good at that. I have learned this people I admire most.

Reason #44 to celebrate 55 birthdays: by the time my birthday hits I've usually had about all the winter I care to have and I am counting down to the first day of Spring will be here and on my birthday there are ONLY 76 MORE DAYS till Spring and that's just over a month - I can do that. (and then I just countdown to Summer).  woo hoo

Reason #43 to celebrate 55 birthdays: yoga, how important it has been to my stressed out, type A-ish being. Here, Armando does proud cat pose a.k.a modified cobra pose or bhujangasana). Cats do yoga before and after any big energy draining effort...and I learn so much from them.  Namaste.

Reason #42 to celebrate 55 birthdays: improved ability to put the facts aside (temporarily) to give arbitrage and karma to work things out. 
How many times in my lifetime have I been in times of feast and times of famine - many. At 14 years old, I got up at 4 am to go get mom and dad gas during the 1970's gas "shortage". It happens - take a chill pill and see how things look later. Good advice from Dory, just keep swimming.

Reason #41 to celebrate 55 birthdays: charity - the more birthday's I have the more I see people - the ones we call good and the ones we call evil.... and I understand more about our struggle with one another. I have more charity and care more about more people than ever. I am less willing to rage against the machine and more willing to be part of a solution for people, animals and the earth.


Reason #40 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I embrace the goat. I'm not big on horoscopes or sun signs but I cannot deny people born at certain times of the year seem to show certain patterns of traits (if not behaviors) - and I am goat like. Strong-minded, singleness of purpose, and leadership rather than following.. also, good survival instincts.  Look in the Bible and we don't always have a positive light cast on us (but that could just be poor interpretation). As I said in an earlier reason to celebrate, I'm teachable. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Reason #39 to celebrate 55 birthdays: Faith! For 16 years now I have had a good relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I didn't think I was religious or spiritual for so long - but after opening the window just a crack.... it seems I am both.  Note: not perfect, just teachable...and filled with faith

Reason #38 to celebrate 55 birthdays: In my lifetime, I have seen so much progress in health and wellness. So much more information is available to people, more options. We know smoking is bad - no two ways of looking at it. Cancer is treated differently. Surgery is less invasive and we recover faster. More is known about alternative types of treatments in all parts of human health. It used to be if you had what we call "mental illness" you'd be sent to a facility. Now, we know that is mostly not the best answer. IMHO more respect is given to both Western and Eastern and alternative treatments.

On the flip side - everything is more expensive relative to our average wages. And not everyone knows how to use the information available.... but I'm grateful for the progress.

Reason #37 to celebrate 55 birthdays: music - and I must say, I love my era of music - the best classic rock, modern rock, soft rock, alternative rock, easy listening, R & B, soul, funk, punk, grunge....
Boston     Journey     Foreigner     Stones     Chicago     Eagles     Doors     Sting
Cool & The Gang      Earth Wind & Fire         Luther Vandross      
 anyone associated with MoTown
Jackson 5     Michael Jackson     Peaches & Herb     GQ     Van Halen     Led Zepplin
Aerosmith     Santana     Genesis     Pearl Jam     Genesis     U2
..... and all of the the individual artists who broke out on their own

I cannot name everyone (well, I could try) all but 70's - 90's
Thank you to the founding parents - blues, jazz, boogie woogie, & gospel for birthing such a great family of sounds that inspired so many
(1/10/16 - RIP to David Bowie who def fit into this category)

Reason #36 to celebrate 55 birthdays: best paint store...very patient as I too one year to pick out my exterior color. Thank you Gray's Paint / Benjamin Moore on Woodside Road and San Carlos Ave, Redwood City.

Reason #35 to celebrate 55 birthdays: best deli in my hood, Woodside Deli

Reason #34 to celebrate 55 birthdays: purple pansies

Reason #33 to celebrate 55 birthdays: cartwheels - I can still do them and not get dizzy.

Reason #32 to celebrate 55 birthdays: jump rope - I can still do it, 100 in one minute.

Reason #31 to celebrate 55 birthdays: stubborn, determined, unstoppable as ever (maybe worse). Auntie D asked if I was going to go all the way to 55 and um - of course. Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Reason #30 to celebrate 55 birthdays: cousins - Ferranti's, Adam's, Booras's, Flocks and Powell's, their spouses or partners and children, those here and those on the other side... yay for cousins.

Reason #29 to celebrate 55 birthdays: Mobius Fit, 2 blocks away, always encouraging and positive... they help do my tune-ups.

Reason #28 to celebrate 55 birthdays: the glass if half full

Reason #27 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I own a tiny piece of property in my home town in Silicon Valley!!! 27 years this March 9th. Oh man are we in a bubble.

Reason #26 to celebrate 55 birthdays: capable, I'm quite capable to take care of myself still. No need for a cane or drool nurse - but when I need them, you can bet I will get the best.

Reason #25 to celebrate 55 birthdays: sleep - most nights of my life I get good sleep which we know is key to good health and resetting a day of life. When I want a quick refresh - I can take a 20 min cat nap and - generally, BAM! I feel better. Yay!

Reason #24 to celebrate 55 birthdays: the pets of my lifetime that have brought me pretty faces, purrs, squeeks, more restful sleep and enviable cattitude - so far a few Guinea pigs; Rosie and Snowflake, & cats from childhood - Tina, Tabitha, Tommy, Angel, Priscilla, Judy, Spotsy, Piggy Pork, Suzie, Stanton, (and a few other kittens from Angel I cannot now remember), Maximillian, Sophie, & Stella 
& cats of my adult life - Guido Luigi, Tavala Jean, Rosie Elizabeth (Grandma's girl I adopted), Benino Ludwig, Jasper Joseph, Peter Peepers and in 2013 we added my snow monkey Armando. I must mention the hundreds of cats I adored at Nine Lives Foundation - right now I will give a shout out to Rory, my special girl and Chunk - my blood brutha of 2015 - and Smokey in FIV (I could go on).
One day - a dog or two will be added to the mix, maybe some birds.   How much joy God's creatures bring to my life experience cannot be measured.

Reason #23 to celebrate 55 birthdays: Peru has been quite nice to me too. Whats not to love about my vecinos who treat me like a queen?

Reason #22 to celebrate 55 birthdays: the sweet and spicy people sent to me from India - they have danced into my work life and then become my special keetens often I speak of here on FB. I have visited this beautiful land just 2 weeks for work, I have seen the awesome Taj but NOTHING compares to these lively, happy, smiley, hard working, family loving and joyous people. I have learned so much from the gifts sent over from India. It does not surprise me the wealth of food, films and music that has followed them.
Namaste my keetens

Reason #21 to celebrate 55 birthdays: fields of wildflowers in Mariposa, CA (with a friend emeritus who has always shown me the way)

Reasons #19 & #20 to celebrate 55 birthdays: goodly parents, we have managed to drive each other crazy, and endured well. Dad has been labeled "the man who knows everything" by his neighbor - he can fix anything or tell you how. Mom was McWhorter's "pen sales queen" but mostly - the mom most my friends want as a shared mom. This mighty combination helped me be where I am today.

Reason #18 to celebrate 55 birthdays: clouds (anytime, every time)

Reason #17 to celebrate 55 birthdays: rainbows - I love them

Reason #16 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I have turned down the "I care" knob in exchange for more "zen". Still tuning (wow and zen - nyuck nyuck) ... it feels so good.

Reason #15 to celebrate 55 birthdays: some of my friends have endured as long as me or longer - meaning they have much to celebrate too. I can celebrate with my fellow Capricorns.  wwwwwinersssss!!!

Reason #14 to celebrate 55 birthdays: and closely aligned with reason #13, I have many lessons yet to learn and challenges yet to overcome and I embrace these with open arms now.

Reason #13 to celebrate 55 birthdays: wisdom (and in my opinion, this one is worth about 30) as I look back on the lessons learned and challenges overcome as cute as I was then - nothing looks better than "smarter" feels.

Reason #12 to celebrate 55 birthdays: at 55 and unmarried, people may think something about me and there is an old word that might describe my situation - but it does not define me (and the word rhymes with shminster). I feel good about me, about my attempts to find me a forever guy (the list is long and now extinguished) and while my prospects may not be as good as they once were.... I have never given up on me.

Reason #11 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I used to be upset because people (my brother mostly) called me a spoiled brat. Now I embrace it - and it is as true as ever at 55

Reason #10 to celebrate 55 birthdays: born and bred here in Redwood City, proud of my home town and my heritage - though it has endured many growing pains, earthquakes - I plan on being part of the solution and not part of the problem. So there Redwood City!

Reason #9 to celebrate 55 birthdays: sweet young neighbor learning all the right stuff to make a lady smile thanks to mom and uncle :-)  He gave me a rose in a vase.  muchos gracias vecinos.

Reason #8 to celebrate 55 birthdays: nice people at work (ok by nice meaning just as stressed as me keeping up with who, how, what, when) wanted me to just enjoy myself on my day. And that means I'm employed and that's worth celebrating.

Reason #7 to celebrate 55 birthdays: El Nino comes to wish me a happy birthday on my birthday - isn't that the best? All the rain (and snow) we've waited for 3 years. Looks like CC and I will get a snow shoeing weekend in and Shannon and I will get a ski day (we don't ski enough). woo hoo!

Reason #6 to celebrate 55 birthdays: even with a little bit of a cold, I managed some Pilates and a nice ooooohhhmm moment

Reason #5 to celebrate 55 birthdays: my mummsie, who licked soap from my eyes in the tub as a kid, calls me to tell me " I know you're busy, but happy birthday...you we're such an easy birth... "  What a mom.  You'll all have to give me your Valium when she goes. Blessed am I, Yoda
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Reason #4 to celebrate 55 birthdays:  decided rather late in the day to get 55 hugs....every store I have stopped in gives FREE hugs!  By 1/11 the number is 15

Reason #3 to celebrate 55 birthdays: social media, which I consider closing the door to about every other day, can be the best place to re-connect.... and here today... so many nice people reaching out with well wishing. Superficial? maybe but it still feels great.

Reason #2 to celebrate 55 birthdays: I'm younger than I'll ever be again - I'm going to live it up.

Reason #1 to celebrate 55 birthdays: the obvious one, I have 55 years to celebrate. That I know of, I have outlived a great grandmother, aunt and 2 cousins and many people who haven't gotten here.