Birthday month

I'm big on birthdays. I love them. It's a fun day to celebrate your birth-day, a great and legitimate reason to have fun. To do anything and everything you want to because it's your special day.

I turn 34 this year. 3-4. *insert gasp face (credit: sister. Only because she uses it much); seriously - it bugs me. This whole turning old business. 

True, I'm (extremely) comforted that I hear (kind) things said to me such as "you don't look 34"; but it's a fact and no matter what you say, I am another year older. And once you cross 30, it does become alarmingly quick. Kids, work, commitments, life in general - whizzes by. 

Personally, my alarm bells went off at 30. I ramped up my barely-existent skin care regime, I worried about health/looks/life status/everything. And while I do count my blessings and give thanks, I think it takes some appreciation before I truly (can) embrace ageing. 

Ironically - or perhaps rightfully so - turning 34 has become a true celebration (think of sky diving; exhilarating and scary at once). Every year, I count my blessings and ever since I had kids, it's become somewhat easier. I have moments of pure happiness just watching/being with them; this crazy little thing called offsprings. 

I also work hard to maintain my looks. Call me superficial but looks matter and if you are (I am) an (ageing) woman, you are what you sow. So the last year has been the most disciplined I have ever been and I maintained a regular exercise routine. I still pig out when I want to, I also eat what I want to with some restraint, but along with the older gut and its slower processing (this thing commonly known as digestion) I cannot be as reckless as I was before. The consequences can be painful, unbearable and hard to swallow. It's exactly the same with hangovers. It crosses the border of being near-death experiences where the body is in pain wholly, even the fingernails! So because of these real reasons, I just cannot consume as much despite my most greedy intentions (& trust me. I can be very greedy). 

So anyway, my priorities in life remain pretty much the same where I always wish for happiness and good health for my family and me. I want my kids to be happy and grow up happy because I think happy is such an understated thing. Being happy can make everything else so much better! 

So this year as I turn 34, I remind myself to continue what I said I wanted when I set my new year resolutions. To give my best to my family first then myself. To be happy and not sweat the small stuff. I be a better Mom to my kids. To continue doing what makes my body function at its optimum. To love and be there for my husband, parents and siblings. To remember the true things that matter. Once the rest is sieved out, life becomes much easier. 

Here's to happiness and bring it on, 34!

Birthday cake #2. A joint office celebration with the other March babies. It was a very delicious and happy (!) ice-cream cake and I got to have one whole scoop of rich chocolate to myself.