Celebrating our birthday when we start to get to a 'certain age'.

February is my birth month. I'm of that 'certain age', where birthdays really have become just another day, nothing special, I don't really expect (or necessarily want) a lot of fan-fair. Remember when you were a kid and your birthday was this huge event that your parents went all out for? They buy you something that you have wanted for so long and had asked for at the holiday season, but knew that because you had siblings, that your only chance to actually receive that extra special gift was on your birthday? Remember the parties, the cake and ice cream, or special tradition that you always had that was unique to you and your special day? Why, then, if birthdays are such a special occasion, do we not really celebrate them as an adult? 

I honestly quit celebrating my birthdays around the time that my kids started being born, mostly because it was more important to me that my kids and husband had their special day recognized. Then, my husbands birthdays started to not really be as celebrated, either, because it was more important to us both that our children's special days were recognized over our own. That's just something we do as parents, right? To be honest, after hitting the age of 21 and hitting all of those major legal milestones, I really didn't care much about celebrating my birthdays. So, what I've started to do, is just find ways to celebrate little things throughout a year. 

This year, I'm compiling a list of 45 things for my 45th year. I'm doing little things throughout the year (45 of them) to celebrate my 45th trip around the sun. You can certainly make these things large or small; categorize them as major goals to accomplish like buying yourself something extravagant or as little as making it a habit to take one full hour out of your day, to sit and reflect, relax, drink some coffee or wine; really, something as simple as that. Maybe you want to make a specific day as an at home spa day, where you take a long hot bath, paint your fingers and toes, put on a face and hair mask and just pamper yourself once a week or month. The possibilities are absolutely endless. It's all up to you.

Maybe this is the year that you have that extra special day. The party with your family and friends, the night out, the cake and ice cream, the extravagant gift; a day all about you, for you, even if it has to be done by you. Maybe your significant other or child(ren) can plan it all out for you, just tell them what you really want for your special day. Most people do not possess the ability to read minds, so this would be helpful for them to actually carry out a plan. And, you'll probably get exactly what you want or at least really close.

Stay in and have a Zoom party. Make it a social video conferencing celebration. Have some wine together. Laugh together. Talk about dreams and goals in your life. We are in what people are calling a pandemic, of course, so this could be a much safer option for you and those you care about, by staying in and drinking that bottle of something you've been saving for such a special occasion. Everyone stays home, no one drives, everyone stays safe. It seems like a win all the way around.

If things ever open again this year, maybe you can take a vacation. Is there a place that you've always dreamed of going? Make plans to get there! What about a vineyard and wine tasting trip? It may even be as simple as a day of shopping with the girls or the family. A nice dinner out. There are other fun things you can try, like an escape room party, if you have a birthday in the warmer months, an amusement park to relive your childhood a bit and act like a kid again. 

Indoor go-carting is super fun! And, typically not too taxing on the pocketbook. If you can have a designated driver, a pub/brewery crawl can be a fun thing to do, and some of them even have the pub bike that you can rent for a certain price per hour. Those are fun with a group of your pals! Are you adventurous? Maybe zip lining or kayaking, taking a hike in the wilderness to reconnect your spirit and soul with our beautiful Mother Earth is more your idea of fun. 

Learning a new skill throughout your birthday year. Teach yourself something new from an absolute beginners viewpoint. I have a goal of learning my acoustic guitar this year and how to repair small engines on my own. I know nothing about small engines or mechanical work in general, so this is completely out of my wheelhouse and I'm excited to start trying this.

Music a passion? Learn to play an instrument. A piano, guitar, woodwind, string, percussion, brass; the possibilities are endless. You can usually find a quality used instrument that doesn't cost a ton of money to start out with on places like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or even a local music store or pawn shop. I received an antique piano for free about 6 or 7 years ago. I am setting a goal to learn how to fix it, tune it and play it this year. I'm starting to really notice a pattern here, that music (as it always has been) an extremely important part of my life. I've always been a singer, so I'm going to start to practice getting my form and sound back, to go along with learning new instruments.

I have an older model jukebox that was my grandparents, that as a child, it was one of the things that we did together; listen to 45's for hours on end, as we sat out on the front porch, playing record after record, working in the flower beds. Well, the years and several moves have taken it's toll on that wonderful memory, and it is in need of repair. So, I'm purchasing the repair manual for it and I'm going to attempt to fix it myself. Yet one more skill that I want to teach myself in my 45th year of life.

So, know that your birthday is special. It was the day that you entered this world of beauty and opportunity, abundance and love. Your day is still special. It was the day that the world gained an amazing, caring, loving and capable human being; you. Enjoy your birthday the way that you want to enjoy it. It is truly all about you.

Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.

Blessings,

Nonnie  

Time for you. Time for me. Let's start planning our garden time.

January is such a tough time. We're in the throws of Winter, and while it can be an absolutely beautiful time of year, it often can be calming or start building anxiety; especially when you live in a much colder climate. I start counting down the days when I can start my seeds in mass quantities and place them on my grow racks and under grow lights. I long for the ability to get my hands and bare feet into the earth and reconnect and reenergize my life source and thusly, my soul.

I typically take the month of January to plan out my gardens, continue to order larger and larger quantities of seed every month until about April or May and then start ordering root starts, trees, fruit bushes and the like from May until August, then start the winter garden veggie order about August/September and bulbs in September through November. It's truly a system I have. I love to attempt to save as much seed from what I grow to harvest, and I'm kind of a seed hoarder, to be honest. It's one of those things that I don't think you can ever have enough of. I do start cold stratification of certain seeds in about mid January, so that I have viable seedlings to plant in about March into seed flats and pots, then into the yard and garden they go come Mother's Day weekend. 

I'm very methodical, to say the least. I have set a goal this year, to convert my front enclosed south-facing porch into a year-round greenhouse of sorts, and that will be very interesting, if nothing else. Oh, the satisfaction I get from being able to play in the dirt throughout the entirety of the year, even if it is a mixture of my composting pile and seed starting mix. The energy is nothing short of amazing, that you receive from having your hands in soil. The plans for the indoor greenhouse have already begun and I have drywall pieces that I have salvaged, and will be picking up some insulation this Saturday, to replace what is in the walls now. The existing windows will be reset and resealed and new hardware will be place for them and an exhaust fan and heat ducting will be placed in the ceiling to ensure the proper environment for growing. Yes. I've done my planning and research, to say the least. 

What are your plans for January? Do you take this month to do seed and supplies inventory? Do you plan out your garden(s)and food forests like I do? Or do you just take this month to recoup and gather your thoughts and plans? I'd love to hear what you have planned! 

Happy planning!

Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.

Blessings,

Nonnie

This is Sparta! Well, in spirit, anyway (as it pertains to me).

Welcome to 2021. The year that will tell the previous one, "Hold my beer and watch this!" This is already a strange and upsetting year for a lot of people, including myself. I feel that life as I once knew it, is over and a new era of self exploration, heartache, laughs, tears and growth can and will occur. It hasn't started out putting it's best foot forward, but I'm sure going to try to put forth all of my efforts to put my best foot forward. I have goals; many goals. Some very lofty ones, sure, but I have many. I have a fire in my soul and a newfound sense of drive. I have plans in place for varying scenarios, and backup plans for those plans, if they don't come out just as I have anticipated. I will not be deterred from the end game.

I don't know about others in the country or the world, but for the first time in a very long time, I'm truly concerned for the future. I fear that the worst is yet to come and I can honestly say that I'm not prepared. Are you? I have a lot riding on success this year in many aspects of my life, including family, business ventures, outside relationships, finances and so many more, that may seem quite trivial to some, but I see the writing on the wall and I don't like it. This is where the fire starts to rage and fuels that drive for me.

Healthy skepticism and being a realist is what I like to call what I'm feeling and thinking. Most would simply call me a conspiracy theorist, and to some degree, sure; I could appear that way. But, I am trusting my 'gut feelings' about things and trusting my own thoughts, beliefs and actions a whole lot more these days and those who do not feel the way I do; well, their opinions are obviously not going to sway me from my trajectory of success and survival. Sure, I value the opinions of those that I love and trust, but, I'm still going to listen to my intuition, trust what I'm feeling and just go with it.

So, I'm turning things around with this blog, my social media, my businesses, and all of the other outside things in my life, to build success and reap those benefits. You will see change in the appearance of my life and how it is portrayed or presented to the public. These changes will not be overly dramatic, I don't think, but you will see the shift, I'm sure. Some of the more noticeable changes will be in the presentation on my social media. This blog will still be little life lessons I learn on my journey, but there will be more informative content on ways to help others through that same life lesson and ways to make your life a lot less stressful and a lot more fun. I hope that you enjoy the direction I wish to take it. 

Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.

Blessings,

Nonnie