Monday, February 11, 2008

The Age of Aquarius

In the old days, birthdays were a big deal. Second only to Christmas. I always insisted on a bakery cake, cake optional, icing mandatory, roses preferred. "Floral" isn't really me and never really was, but how else can you justify huge globs of cream cheese icing disguised as legitimate birthday cake design? Keep your fondant, give me a bakery cake with a 4:1 ratio of icing/cake.


In the old days, gayly wrapped presents greeted you in the morning on the kitchen table. If it was a school day, you brought cupcakes to school. If you were lucky beyond your wildest expectations, it snowed the night before and school was, Oh Joy, cancelled. And birthday cards from grandparents. Open card, turn upside down, watch cash or check gently float to the ground. Birthdays also meant that you got to sit in the front seat of the car, while your sibling seethed in the back.


Today's my birthday. I'm 38. I feel like I'm 25, but any visit to the RE reinforces that I'm not. It's hard not to feel the wrinkles and less firm skin when you hear the words "at your age," or "I don't think you should wait any longer." My assurances that my lady parts are indeed youthful and glowing are, well, ignored. I'm not taking it personally. Good REs aren't known for their senses of humor, I hear.

Aside from this infertility hullaballoo, I've enjoyed being in my 30s. I like that I'm the boss of me (except for my real boss, of course, but he only thinks he's the boss). If I were in my 20s I wouldn't have had my E, so I have my 30s to thank. I also wouldn't have this job if I were in my 20s, so my 30s have been financially kind to me. My 30s have also brought me some wonderful friendships, so I thank my 30s for the emotional support. And it should be noted that I can have bakery cakes any time I want. Or shoes. I get to make those choices in my 30s, you see.

Hmmm. Or not. Pass the cake.

13 comments:

Nadine said...

Let me be the first to comment! Happy Birthday!! Wow sounds like the 30's are good.
Don't worry about being told that your insides are not youthful, they tell me that too and I'm not 30 yet. yuck.
Oh and icing, couldn't agree more I used to dream of a cake with a layer of icing as thick as the cake... yum.

Sue said...

Happy Birthday! I'm an Aquarius too, and you're still younger than me, so 38 is a good age. Treat yourself to a birthday cupcake - very good icing to cake ratio without the floral.

Mrs.X said...

Happy birthday, fellow Aquarian! I would always steal the corner piece of a sheet cake because it had the most icing. I felt no guilt.

Io said...

Happy birthday! If I had known I would have mailed you some frosting. It would have been hard not to snicker as the postal worked asked me questions about hazardous materials inside. And then they probably would have gotten suspicious and tackled me and sent me to Guantanamo.
So it's probably good I didn't know.

I will however, eat some dessert for you.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday!!
i have also loved my 30's. I know me so much better than I did in my 20's. Have had more fun too!
I've fulfilled my tag duties, but have only tagged one person so far

luna said...

happy happy birthday!!! and hope you had an incredible bakery cake with yummy icing. ~luna

Carrie said...

Happy Birthday to you!!

I too have enjoyed my attitude and being me in my thirties but I now HATE my birthday. It is all IF related. I'm sure I wouldn't feel this way if I didn't feel that old clock ticking.

I hope you had lovely cake and a few nice pressies too.

Working Girl said...

Happy Birthday to you!!! I just had a party for my Mom's birthday this weekend. I bought the prettiest buttercream iced cake that was exploding with buttercream flowers...OMG...it was heaven!!! I hope you get your cake and eat it too!!!

Frenchie said...

Happy Birthday! Mine was the 10th!

The 30's are pretty awesome, despite all the IF stuff. Thanks for reminding me...

Cheers!

TABI said...

Happy Belated Birthday to you!!! I couldn't agree with you more that being in our 30s bears the fruits of independence, confidence, and perspective that I simply didn't have in my 20s. Of course not all fruits are so easy to bear in our 30s, but we do still have so much to look forward to! I hope you enjoyed your cake! Thanks again for tagging me!

Shinejil said...

Happy Birthday! I hope your icing was particularly good this year.

I agree with you: the 30s are so much better than the 20s, REs be damned!

S said...

Happy Birthday!! I just stumbled across your blog and wish you the best!! I have added you to my blog (hope that's okay).

Denise said...

Happy belated birthday and cheers to our 30's!

Thanks for your comments earlier this week. It really does help a little to know there are people out there thinking about us.