Sunday, January 11, 2009

Today I'm 42

Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. ~Author Unknown

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wartime Writings 1939-1944, translated from French by Norah Purcell


I like announcing my age. I've never understood why folks are hesitant to do so... does NOT telling people make you any younger (or older, for the teenagers who long to be 21)??

I'm proud to be forty-two today. I don't feel forty-two, I'd like to think I don't look forty-two (though, anymore isn't forty the new thirty or something?). I hope that number keeps on rising and doesn't stop until there are three of them up there. And then, I will proclaim that I am one hundred years of age and proud of it.

I celebrated by lazing around this morning like a lazy slug. I went to bed around 9:30, DH woke me at 11:30 when he came in and had to shuffle the dog (she's a snuggler and doesn't like to sleep at our feet, so it's always an ordeal) and then Dd woke me at 1:30 to go out (which is why she sleeps with us, btw -- she doesn't whine to go out, she just... stares. So if she were crated or put out in the living room, I'd have a mess to wake up to), so I took her out and then checked on the wood stove, fed it and curled up on the couch with the dog and the cat. I'd wake periodically, look at the stove and see the glow, and then doze off again. It was good.

Not going to do anything much today, though. It snowed and is still snowing -- the expectation is 6-9" and I won't drive in the white stuff if at all possible. So DD will sing to me, I'll open her gifts and bask in being the birthday girl for the day. Maybe DH will even make dinner.

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? And... do you care if people know how old you are?

As an aside, happy half-birthday to Charity. :-)

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In 1967 (the year you were born)



Lyndon B. Johnson is president of the US

President Johnson and Soviet premiere Aleksei Kosygin agree not to let any crisis push them into war

Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first black Supreme Court justice

The first home microwave is released by Amana

Dave Matthews, Kurt Cobain, Liz Phair, Vin Diesel, Julia Roberts, and Anna Nicole Smith are born

St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series

Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I

Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup

Disney's The Jungle Book and The Graduate are the top grossing films

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is published

Paul McCartney announces that all four members of the Beatles have "dropped acid"

For the first time, Jimi Hendrix sets his guitar on fire during a concert in London

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released

The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published

The FCC orders that cigarette ads on television, radio and in print must include a warning about the health risks of smoking

13 comments:

Dru said...

Happy Birthday Marianne!!

I'm proud of my age and I remember when I turned 25, I told people that I was a quarter of a century. Last year when I turned 50 I told people I was half a century and like you, when I turn 100, I will shout that I'm a century years old.

My birthday is normally a very quiet day.

Have a wonderful birthday!

Charity Tahmaseb said...

Have a wonderful, relaxing day!

MJFredrick said...

Happy birthday!!!!! I don't mind people knowing my age. Even my class knows it, though sometimes they remind me their grandparents aren't too much older! Heck, my mom was a grandmother when she was a year older than me! (She started young, I didn't.)

Welcome to 42. It's been a good age for me, so far :)

Maria Zannini said...

Happy birthday, Marianne!

I hope you get to laze around all day with husband, child and dog hopping to your every command. *g*

I'm not shy about my age either. It's not like I can do anything about it. Me and Sputnik were launched in the same year.

{{hugs, sweetie}} Have a great day!

MomJane said...

I think I'm the oldest, and they didn't include the fact that the year I was born they began building the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that's Old.

In 1933 (the year I was born)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes president of the US

Mae West makes her film debut in She Done Him Wrong based on one of her Broadway plays

Franklin Roosevelt begins his "fireside chats"

The 21st Amendment passes, putting an end to Prohibition

FDR declares a bank holiday to stabilize the economy

The chocolate chip cookie is invented

Yoko Ono, Quincy Jones, James Brown, Dom DeLuise, and Michael Dukakis are born

New York Mets win the World Series

Chicago Bears win the NFL championship

New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup

King Kong premieres in New York City

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!

In 1975 (the year you were born)

Gerald Ford is president of the US

Evacuation of US civilians from Saigon as Communist forces complete takeover of South Vietnam

FBI agents capture Patty Hearst, who is indicted and convicted of bank robbery

Teamster Jimmy Hoffa disappears without a trace

Marines rescue the crew of the American ship the Mayaguez near Vietnam

First Lady Betty Ford says in an interview that she thinks her children have tried marijuana

Natalie Imbruglia, Drew Barrymore, David Beckham, Enrique Iglesias, Angelina Jolie, and Tiger Woods are born

Cincinnati Reds win the World Series

Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl IX

Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup

Production begins on Star Wars

Jaws and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are the top grossing films

Soul Train premieres on television in the United States

"The Way We Were" (performed by Barbara Streisand) wins the Grammy for best song

Saturday Night Live and Wheel of Fortune premiere


Hope you have a great day! And fyi, I'm stealing this quiz!

Ceri Hebert said...

In 1965 (the year you were born)

Lyndon B. Johnson is president of the US

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara calls for a nationwide network of bomb shelters

Former leader of the Black Muslims, Malcolm X, is shot and killed in New York City

To protest voting rights discrimination, civil rights demonstrators begin a march for Selma to Montgomery with federal troop protection

The first commercial satellite, Early Bird, is launched into space by Nasa to transmit telephone and television signals

Voting Rights Act is signed into law

Riots by young blacks in the Watts area of Los Angeles begin, causing $200 million in damage

Hurricane Betsy claims 75 lives in southern Florida and Louisiana

United States President Lyndon Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address

Dr. Dre, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey Jr., Shania Twain, Moby, and Ben Stiller are born

Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series

Green Bay Packers win the NFL championship

Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup

The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews, is the top grossing film

Dune by Frank Herbert is published

The Beatles' Rubber Soul is released

"Satisfaction" by Rolling Stones is a top hit

The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing songs from their new album Help!

Sony introduces the Betamax, a home video tape recorder

Nearly all of NBC's programs are now broadcast in color

I Dream of Jeannie premieres


I'm 43 and not shy about saying it at all. I'm a little shocked I'm not 18 anymore, but what ya going to do?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIANNE!!!!!!!!

And it snowed just for you!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Marianne!!!

In 1961 (the year you were born)

John F. Kennedy becomes president of the US

An estimated 1200 anti-Castro exiles aided by the US make a failed invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs

Navy Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr. becomes the first US spaceman rocketing 118 miles above the earth

Hurricane "Carla" wipes out Texas gulf cities, claiming 46 lives

Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin makes the first manned space flight

Wayne Gretzky, Henry Rollins, Fabio, George Clooney, Dennis Rodman, and Diana, Princess of Wales are born

New York Yankees win the World series

Green Bay Packers win the NFL championship

Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup

Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians is the top grossing film

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is published

The Miracles' "Shop Around" becomes Motown's first million-selling single

Brandy said...

Happy Birthday Marianne!
I don't mind telling people how old I am, when I can remember how old that is! And we don't do much for Birthdays here either. Usually that persons favorite dinner is made, gifts are opened and cake is served. *G*

Have a wonderful day!

Melissa McClone said...

Happy Birthday Marianne!

Alice said...

I've been lurking but today I must say something:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Marianne!

anno said...

Happy Birthday!!! Hope you had a wonderful day... quiet birthdays are (to my mind) the very best.

Diane Craver said...

Sorry I missed your birthday - sounds like you had a nice one!

In 1949 (the year you were born)

Harry Truman is president of the US

Treaty signed by US, Canada and other countries establishes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

German Federal Republic (West Germany) is established

A communist government is established in mainland China

John Belushi, Erik Estrada, and Bruce Springsteen are born

New York Yankees win the World Series

Philadelphia Eagles win the NFL Championship

Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup

The Second Sex by Simone de Behavior is published