Definitely Not Old

So, one week from yesterday will be my birthday.

As this birthday will mark the tipping point of my twenties, I've decided to take a four-day weekend to contemplate life and what it means to me.

But I still have to get through this work week before celebrations can commence, and I'm already bubbling with birthday excitement.

So I'm starting my reflections today, and calling it the arbitrary beginning of 25 Days of Sunny.**1

(It probably won't last through today. But I have good intentions.)

Today's list is

25 Ways I'm Definitely Not Old Yet

1.) My favorite music is Disney music.

2.) Given the opportunity, I will always sneak a handful of cookies before dinner.

3.) I have sidewalk chalk, and I know how to use it.

4.) I really prefer my sugar with a little cereal underneath. The sweeter, the better.**3

4-1) You will never catch me with a spoonful of "Big Bran" headed to my mouth.

5.) I can, with relative ease, drop off for a nap whenever I please.

6.) I still have - and regularly snuggle with - a stuffed animal.

7.) Being told what to do makes me stomp like a grumpy dinosaur.

8.) If you're telling a joke rated above PG-13, I probably won't get it.

9.) I adore shiny things.

10.) I know how to - and occasionally do - access my local playground for a go on the swings.

11.) Sometimes I play hide-and-seek with Boyfriend of Amazingness. Most recently, he ran upstairs and pretended he was hiding in bed. Just when I was about to startle him with my amazing powers of findingness, he jumped out of the closet and scared the snot out of me.

12.) I'm quite easily startled.

13.) Scary movies/TV shows/books give me nightmares.

14.) I like raw cookie dough.

15.) I'm picky about my vegetables.

16.) When it's available, I'll always use glitter.

17.) I adore jumping in puddles.

18.) I jump up and down when I'm excited.

19.) When I get too hungry, I get cranky.

20.) When it's past my bedtime, I start to yawn and fall asleep. Standing at an outdoor show... sitting at dinner... wearing my finest dress or my skuvviest skivvies... Zzzz.

21.) I'm better off if someone else handles the knives in the house.

22.) I'm super-proud of my belly button, and love showing it to people.

23.) If I'm having trouble falling asleep, Harold and the Purple Crayon is a sure bet for dreamland.

24.) Sometimes I address people as "Um" when I can't remember their names. Not "Madam," not "I'm-so-sorry-could-you-remind-me-of-your-name"... Just "Um"

25.) I'm rather a victim of my impulses. If I want to boop your nose... I'm probably going to boop your nose.

 

**1 It would have been less arbitrary if I started it on April 1, but then I'd be nine days behind and that simply won't do. And it would have been even less arbitrary if I started it 25 days before my birthday, which works out to be some time in March. But I didn't do that. Besides - it's MY birthday. I get to decide when the celebration starts. And I choose today.**2

**2 When I decide to do a re-hash in December for Christmas, you don't get to be picky about that either. Again: My birthday. My rules.

**3 Seriously. I once ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch with egg nog on it. And then I napped for the rest of the day.