Thursday, August 05, 2010

43 things (part one)


Yesterday was my birthday. I decided that it would be fun to write a post with 43 things that I had never written about on the blog. This proved to be quite a challenge, especially since I don't seem to have a lot of writing time these days (and it was my birthday, after all).

I've decided to post the list in stages, since I stil only have less than 20 and a post with 43 things would be way too long to be interesting (and I'm hoping this is interesting).

So here goes:

1. I am 43 years old (hence the 43 things).

2. I've decided that I want to lose 44lbs before my 44th birthday.

3. My most memorable birthday presents were my little black dog (who was a Mother's Day, birthday and Christmas present all rolled into one), my trip to BlogHer in '07 and the red bike with the banana seat that I got for my seventh birthday.

4. I wear much less make-up now than I did when I was fifteen.

5. One year, in university, I spent several November days dressed up as an elf and handed out candy canes along with leaflets asking people not to buy “war toys.”

6. I'm married but I have never celebrated my wedding anniversary. I have celebrated the anniversary of the beginning of our relationship. In March, it will be 20 years (we've been married for 14).

7. We were married by a secular Jewish Humanist officiant. She stipulated that there would be no mention of God and no sexism in the ceremony, which suited us perfectly.

8. I am in awe of every single one of my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law on both sides of my family. I have eight in total and I really like hanging out with each one (and my sister is pretty great, too).

9. I got my first dog when I was 25 years old. I planned and researched for a year before settling on a golden retriever. The other breeds on my short list were pug and Shetland sheep dog.

10. I named her Emma after Emma Goldman, although her papers said Golden Breeze Lady Emma Delight. She was neither an anarchist nor an aristocrat by nature.

11. I lost Emma to old age and Jasper to cancer. Losing Jasper was harder, as it felt so unexpected and brutal. My grief for him is still very raw and I miss him more than I can say (I know that I've written about this but I need to include it here).

12. I have absolutely no sense of direction, a trait I have passed on to my firstborn.

13. I can't curl my tongue, although both kids and my spouse can. This makes me feel oddly left out.

14. I can still remember the first phone number I ever learned but I sometimes forget my cell phone number.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Laurie,

Wow! You really are a great writer. I got to #14 and was looking for the next page...tears are still running down my cheeks:) Only 29 to go and I'm looking forward to them all.

Had to look at the link to Lucy...how adorable is she, and the kid sitting with her is even cuter.

B in T

Lene Andersen said...

It was interesting - I look forward to the rest of the list.

#2 impressed me
#5 made me laugh
#7 fascinated me
#11 made me nod in recognition. And want to hug you.
#13 can be learned, I think. Once, when I was about 16, I spent 3 days trying to learn to flip my tongue. I succeeded, but spent a few more days with a sore tongue (should I even say that on the internet?)

Nat said...

I can't for the life of me remember what I've written about or haven't, which I think adds to the challenge of this exercise.

I too wear less make-up, though as I get older my mother tells me to wear more. Sigh.

laurie said...

I love each of these comments. Thanks so much. I think the tongue is hopeless and the Nat? Mine too.

Velda said...

Happy birthday!

Steve said...

632-82X3.....four some people....certain numbers are hard to forget.

Steve