I have exactly 5 full weeks until my 29th birthday. 5 weeks until the LAST year of my 20's. 5 weeks until I have a small mental and emotional break down. 5 weeks until my biological clock gets a little more wonky. 5 weeks until I have one more year that I can self-justify totally stupid behavior. 5 weeks until the beginning of the end.
As of tonight, I want one, or both, or all of these things to mark my 29th birthday...a puppy (to keep me company in my pathetic single early 30's), a tattoo (maybe of a pathetic old hag with too many cats), or a kayak (because I could strap it to the roof of ozone killer and feign that I've picked up a supercool hobby in my middle agedness).
Ok...maybe I'm being a little over dramatic. Maybe I'm looking forward to being 29. Maybe I'll finally consider myself semi-adult-like. Maybe I'll take myself seriously for once. Maybe I'll stop making excuses...
So, Costco has kayaks, the SPCA has puppies who need some love, and there is a tattoo to be had out there somewhere. I have 5 weeks to decide what I want to ink into my skin to permanently mark this momentous occasion of the passing of my youth. I know...maybe I'll just get the Kanji symbol for drama queen.
Seriously though, I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what symbol can properly sum up the course of my life thus far. What would sum up yours?
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The adventures and confessions of a single girl, travel junkie, shopaholic, amateur photographer, prodigal scrapbooker, social drinker, public servant, sister, daughter, friend, klutz, and nap time professional who keeps looking for the hidden meaning in it all. These are the scenes from my life.
infinity. (you know...the sideways eight.... :-) )
ReplyDeletebecause youth never ends.
I'm 38 and I am at least as young as I was when I was 29. Maybe younger. (or maybe just stupider...)
"one more year that I can self-justify totally stupid behavior".....you can always justify it.
ReplyDeleteMama always said, stupid is as stupid does.
ReplyDeleteoh lauren, the beginning of the end she says. hush - you're still a baby!
ReplyDeletemy ode to 30 years was my "on my own" tattoo with the sparrow. a lot of people misinterpreted the meaning to be depressing ... "oh you're so dramatic, you're not alone. you have so many people in your life."
all true but they missed the point. ON MY OWN is a celebration of all i had accomplished up to that point in life: graduating from college (even if it took 10 years) raising a normal daughter as a single mama, surviving divorce, conquering illness, losing loved ones, taking care of things. ON MY OWN was meant to be a statement but more of a "fuck you, i did THIS on my own." kinda like Frank Sinatra's "I Did It My Way".
and many still refuse to see my independence as a positive. i have to remind people that my life is a result of MY choices. my lifestyle is a choice. all of it. from being single at 35 to making stupid mistakes to learning new things.
you, too, have accomplished so many things, done so much for so many others, contributed to society through a very noble profession, and made us laugh. you are a beautiful person but more importantly, a STRONG person. so i say get something that represents your strength, beauty, accomplishments, freedom, and hope. (i mention hope because death comes closer to 35, not 29. TRUST me, i know!)
i designed mine in about 2 hours with help from JP, my tattoo artist. i wanted a bird to represent freedom, heaven, and those i've lost. i wanted script to remind me of where i'd been. and it's my favorite.
you have a lot of recurring references to flowers, which are symbolistic of many things in life. i know you'll pick something perfect. perfectly you.
since i have commandeered your comment section, let me also add that second to being a mother and aunt, having a puppy is the best kind of love. think small. i have never loved a puppy as much as i loved my chihuahua Sunny. when sunny passed away, i adopted two chihuahua/pugs, a brother and sister. the boy, Zor, was hit by a car and buried next to Sunny but Ellie, lil sis, is sitting next to me as i type. puppies are so great. i fully support your decision.
that said, skip the kayak :) spend the money on a flat screen TV.
maybe a star jasmine flower for a tat, bc in your profile you say that it reminds you of being a kid... maybe you should take that with you into your 30's.
ReplyDeleteGood call Odette!
ReplyDelete