43 and Fabulous!

Happy Birthday to me! I am 43 and fabulous! I realized this week that I am officially entering the mid-point of my life since I plan to live to between 86-90. So today, I am making a declaration that I’m going to live my life with meaning and enjoy this life that I’ve been given healthily and happily and with the financial means to do so! I am filling myself with love, joy, peace and gratitude! Therefore, in celebration of my birthday, I want to share with you 43 things that I love:

1. Being told that I am in remission at every checkup;
2. The feeling of love overflowing my heart when I look at Ben;
3. Our nightly cuddling ritual where I get 10 minutes of hugging and Ben gets to pretend he doesn’t like it;
4. Ben’s contagious laughter that has me laughing with him;
5. Childhood memories of my parents;
6. Getting advice from my grandmother;
7. Talking to my best friends and knowing that we are always there for each other;
8. Sexual intimacy and the big O, all wrapped in a huge bow;
9. Getting into my writing zone and emerging hours later with no sense of time but with beautiful prose;
10. Watching my nephews grow into men;
11. Going on a travel adventure to a place that I haven’t been before;
12. The serenity that I feel when I swim, listening only to the sounds that the water makes as I glide through it;
13. Becoming so enthralled with a novel that I feel that I’m a part of the story;
14. Kissing, for no two kisses are ever alike;
15. Sitting quietly quilting;
16. Squash pie made by my grandmother;
17. Performing acts of kindness;
18. Being tickled by Ben;
19. The smell of fresh cut grass;
20. Sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in;
21. A cool breeze on a summer day;
22. Sitting outside on a summer night and listening to the sounds of crickets;
23. Getting letters from friends in the mail;
24. Relaxing in a hot bubble bath after a long day;
25. Reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for the millionth time;
26. Listening to Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd as it brings back memories of growing up in Alabama;
27. Watching I Love Lucy;
28. Holding a baby and breathing in that new baby smell;
29. Getting a massage;
30. Seeing the sun rise and set;
31. Endorphin rush;
32. Watermelon;
33. The magic of Christmas;
34. Watching snow fall while sitting before a warm fire;
35. The sounds of the neighborhood children’s laughter as they play outside;
36. Developing new friendships and nurturing old ones;
37. Making my dad’s famous oatmeal raisin cookies;
38. The unconditional love of a family pet;
39. Trusting others and being trusted;
40. The soreness I feel after working out, as all my cells seem to be shouting “I’m alive!”;
41. Joy on the face of a child;
42. Being able to give voice to my hopes and dreams; and
43. Simply being myself -- nothing more, nothing less.