Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Surprise! You're 32!

Hey everybody. I've been on a bit of a role recently with talking about my personal life on Diary of a Dorkette. Really the whole kit and caboodle is personal, even those silly toy stories. Either way, in the near four years that I have been writing here, I have never once mentioned my birthday. Well... that is about to change.

Spoiler alert: it gets real dorky! (In the best way possible)




My birthday is April 5th. And I usually do not like mentioning nor do I like celebrating my birthday. I know what it must look like; I must hate my birthday because I'm a single barren woman fearful of age. Right? Well, I only make jokes about aging, I am actually very comfortable with growing old. I look forward to being a senior citizen one day. The discounts at restaurants and ability to say whatever is on my mind about rude people seems like a dream come true.

I actually envision myself being one of those grand classy southern old ladies with big fried blond hair and fancy fluffy night gowns on with cha-cha heels with a She-Ra in my hand. I'm ready for my days as an older more mature Miss M.

Alas, I'm only 32 so I still have a ways to go.

Anyways, I don't really like celebrating my birthday. My grandfather (my dad's dad) died a couple days before my 8th birthday. It was a shocking and sad death because he could have survived had he been taken to a hospital with adequate help. We all took my grandfather's passing very hard, especially my dad and grandmother. It took my dad a few years to even remember the date of my birthday, which was understandable. He lost his father.

It's just that growing up there was always a tinge of sadness mixed with the celebration of my birthday. So I simply grew up not wanting to make a big deal out of it. It just felt weird to get excited about it. Of course I got even older and through the years there would be some fun birthdays and some not so fun birthdays. My Sweet 16 was epic. It was my first real boy/girl party and more drama unfolded at that party than an entire season of 90210. I just sat back and enjoyed a juice box alone in my room. I was certainly boy crazy at that time, but not enough to have boy drama.

I was a little nervous about this current birthday for sure. My husband and I are no longer together. I'm still trying to get settled with moving back home and I have like multiple jobs so I never know if I am arriving or leaving. While some people were asking me if I'd be going out and celebrating like a single gal on the town, I wanted to keep it very simple and low key.

So the night before my birthday I got home from the late shift at the department store super tired. I had a bag of french fries from McDonald's for my dinner and my plan was to watch some scandalous TV (Dallas is so damn good right now) before washing my makeup off and crawling into bed to play some Candy Crush or read some comics. (I'm so behind on my comic and magazine reading! I still haven't cracked open the Vogue September issue... from 2013.)

Of course upon my arrival I found a box waiting for me from none other than Laura of the fantastic blog Boo Bobby. I was completely surprised by this gesture and after opening the box I could do nothing but smile. This is what I found,

A Ninja Turtle balloon head among other things! Laura is so talented. If you haven't already, please check out her blog. She is a sweet person and someone I am so happy to call a friend. Her story is stunning and awe inspiring. I adore her.

Laura wrote me a nice letter full of kind words and well wishes. Here is a portion of the letter, I didn't want to include everything she wrote though. All of this was just such a surprise and it made me feel so good about the world. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful people both in my personal life and in the life I have here. Here are some of the other items that were in this birthday box of surprises!


The Ninja Turtle balloon head is pure perfection! The attention to detail is just so great. I love Laura's talent. (This is all just the tip of the iceberg of what she can do.)

These little guys are so cute. I liken them to Whispering Wood wisps. Don't they just belong in the Whispering Woods helping the Great Rebellion?

Pound Puppies and a Pound Purrie? Totally awesome! And it is so funny with the timing of this because my family just adopted a miniature poodle from a poodle rescue a week ago. (More on that in a little while.)

A pin the tail on the donkey game! I wanted to play this with my family on my birthday, but I decided to save it for the ultimate party that will hopefully happen one day. (I have this dream where every single one of us comes together and just hangs out in the ultimate dorky party filled with talk of toys and lots of snacks.)

Every dorkette needs a diary, and this is a great diary! I love writing in a journal and have been since I was in high school. So this was just beyond cool to see. Unicorns are everything and I know we will find out about their existence at some point in time. Trust me on this.

The pen is totally mightier than the sword. (I can't wait to start writing in it!)

A really big and special thanks to Laura. I was very touched by this gesture. It was the perfect start to celebrating what was a really great birthday.

I want to also thank you all. I received so many kind birthday wishes and I just was not expecting all of that. It was so nice. I am so appreciative of the kindness of my friends from all over the web. Your comments, emails, and tweets were so kind and put so many smiles to my face. Thank you guys and gals. I hope that you are all doing well. I also can't believe I've been posting as much as I have lately. Things have been so hectic in my life, but I am trying to make everything work. I like to think that this time in my life is merely sharpening my mind so that I can be super present for that discount at IHOP when I'm 79. Love you guys.

21 comments:

  1. 32 is still young to go on 79. While you keep growing on, it is the things that happen around you today that makes what you are tomorrow. Keep on walking and many Happy birthdays ahead. Even if you are not celebrating, take time to say thanks to parents who gave birth to you on that day. Happy belated birthday. Princess. Cheers

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    1. Jim, you are absolutely right. I do look forward to all the stories and experience I will go through in the future. It is certainly something to look forward to and to be sure to hold onto every moment. And though I wasn't doing anything huge to celebrate, I did celebrate with my close family. They mean the world to me. Thank you so much for the comment! I hope that you are doing well.

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  2. Happy Birthday M! Just had my B-Day on the 1st of April so looks like we are Birthday Buddies. : )

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  3. Happy belated birthday Miss M. That was awesome of Laura to send you that gift box. The TMNT balloon is just amazing.

    Don't worry, you're not the only one that doesn't like to make a big deal about their birthdays. There were a couple of years where I forgot my own birthday, because I was so stressed with work or school.

    I too look forward to the days when I can get free coffee at fast food restaurants, and yell at the kids to get off my lawn.

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    1. Thank you Chris! The balloon is amazing! I just love it.

      Yeah, my birthday is something I don't like a lot of attention on. I just want to be with those I love. And I don't like coffee now, but I have plenty of time to learn since I do have a few minutes before that free coffee starts rolling in on birthdays! lol I hope you are having a nice week!

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  4. Happy belated birthday, Michael!

    And I'm totally loving thoe Pound Puppies. I never realized they made articulated figures of those guys! I'm definitely a dog person and love any dog related toys.

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    1. Thank you! It's so nice to hear from you. And they did make some articulated figures of Pound Puppies! They weren't specific characters from the show, but they were based off the stuffed animals. So much fun!

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    1. Just reading that sentence makes me envious that my parents didn't name me "Robot".

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  6. I hear you about keeping things low key. As the years pass, my birthday celebrations have been less and less extravagant. Not that they were all the big to begin with, but with the passage of time I find I desire fewer material possessions and calorie guilt gets in the way of enjoying elaborate party food.

    Instead I'm usually content to take advantage of the local video retailer's free birthday rental policy. But alas even thats diminished over the years. When I was in high school, we had three video stores that all honored the "free birthday rental". It was your one chance to catch up on all the blockbusters you'd missed at the theater, or stockpile on all the low-rent cheese you wouldn't want to actually be caught paying to check out. Now with Netflix, Redbox, and movies going from the theater to home media in four to six months, we only have the one store so you have to pick one title and make it count!

    Laura is such a thoughtful woman! The Dorky Dream Diary is just perfect for you. Fantastic Photo of Toy Miss M in action! Happy Birthday once more.

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    1. Hey Erik! I certainly know what you mean about calorie guilt. The one thing I don't like about getting older is that food likes to stick to me more than it used to. lol

      I like the birthday policy at your local video rental! That is so cool. I really miss video rentals. I wish they were still around in my neck of the woods. I loved renting movies.

      And Laura is such a thoughtful woman! I adore her. she is just so sweet and gracious. The Diary is absolutely perfect for me. lol Any chance I have to get the toy version of me in a photo I will! lol Thanks for the birthday wish!

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    2. Thanks for the reminder about calorie guilt. Now that its spring, I should find some sort of exercise routine. Watching those Jane Fonda Buns of Steel tapes you find at every garage sale and Goodwill has taught me the way to sexy legs and a better booty, but if I want to have any chance of attracting mates, I may want to take a cue from the crabs and work on building up my arm muscles. Maybe get some giant pinchers too.

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    3. lol! Giant pinchers always make for great mating communation! lol That is the one thing I hate about this time of year. Needing to work on the body, which doesn't get any better the older I get. I remember being young and so thin. Just super tiny and able to get in and out of any tight spot like a little mouse. Now I have hips that bang into doorways and corners. (Maybe I just need to stop walking so close to the walls.) I also was so obsessed with Jane Fonda as a kid. My mom had her videos and I thought her outfits were so cool. That is what I thought working out was all about. Oh the clueless!

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    4. Yeah, swimsuit season is always a shocking time. For years I was the fat kid, but then I went to college without a car and had to walk everywhere so I lost twenty pounds in less than a year. But now that I'm not as out and about kind of active, I'm starting to recognize that my metabolism isn't going to keep my abdomen isn't going to stay the way it is for much longer. Plus I'm getting a bit self conscious now that my brother is doing twice weekly weight lifting at the gym.

      The biggest hurdle in going to the gym isn't so much that its in public (Midland is a small town so its rarely crowded) so much as what to do to best make an impact. I like the elliptical machine, but the most I typically do is only enough to get that prickly feeling like you're about to sweat but haven't broken out just yet, and I just give up because I've been on there a half hour and want to go home,

      I love the look of 80s workout clothes. I need to figure out a way to make a piece out of them, it just looks so fun.

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    5. I was really over weight too. I hated it. I wore a lot of elastic waist jeans and baggy Betty Boop and Tweety Bird shirts because I was so self aware that my body was not in the best of shape. I lost a ton of weight in high school by just not eating. It was unhealthy for a moment but then I ended up realizing that I do like food more than I don't, so I managed to find a happy balance. Now I just have to find ways to figure out how I will make the balance still work in my thirties. It sucks. lol But I know I will never be "high school" skinny ever again. I have to embrace my curves while also figuring out a way to trim my stomach a little. I don't mind my hips and behind all that much, I just wish my stomach was smaller. I try to do some walking, pilates and yoga. When i was in college I took a yoga class and I was so lean and it was amazing! But it is hard to get into a routine.

      My friend Patrick that does the pole competitions, he did a number with his pole group where they were dressed in neon 80's work out attire doing a number while one of them is a zombie that slowly starts eating the others. It was really cool and I think I may have posted it on here. It was really cool. I so love that whole style. lol

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  7. Happy Birthday! I'm turning 32 in May. That Turtle balloon is awesome!

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    1. Thank you Buzz Chuck! I'm happy to hear you will be 32 soon too! That is awesome!

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  8. that was VERY sweet :) Happy belated!!

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    1. Thank you so much! Always nice to hear from you! : )

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