Wed 30 Jun 2010
34
Posted by cindy under French Polynesia 2010 , Mental States , Photos , Recreation at 9:19 pm[8] Comments
Yesterday on my birthday, Ann took me out to dinner at Gulfstream in Corona Del Mar. As we placed our drink order (dirty martini for Ann, chocolate cake shot for me), the waitress, instead of carding us, simply asked obligatorily, “You’re both over 21, right?”
As Ann nodded, I said, “I’m well over. Actually, 34 today.”
The young blonde waitress said, “Oh, today is THE day? Happy birthday! *eyes widening* Wow, 34? You REALLY don’t look it. Wow.” I smiled at her and thanked her for the compliment. As soon as we placed our dinner order, I went to the restroom. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, it kinda hit me. The waitress was SO impressed that I don’t look 34 that really, what it means is that 34 is a very, very large number to her. *sigh*
~ * ~
Mr. W told me earlier that he was chatting with some coworkers yesterday about it being my birthday. They asked how old I was turning. He told them 34, and added, “Yeah, she’s getting kinda old. I may have to trade her in for a younger model soon.” (Note that Mr. W is almost a decade and a half older than me.) His coworkers laughed at him and said something to the effect of, Oh please, she’s gotten better-looking every year since she met you. He took that as a compliment for himself and happily told me the story after work, practically glowing as he did so. I wasn’t totally sure how to take that…but I did happen to have a very recent experience wherein I was digging through early digital photos of us dating back to 2005 when we first started going out, and I was shocked at how unpresentable we both looked. His family members joke about how he gets younger every year that we’re together, and I have to say that based on photographic comparisons, they’re not wrong. I don’t know what we saw in each other back then. Lower standards maybe? haha.
This is a recent photo from our Tahiti cruise.
For comparison, here’s a similar pose from 2005.
Mr. W surprised me this year… he bought Sylvia Brown’s autobiography “Psychic” and it was wrapped and waiting for me with a card next to the alarm clock when I woke up. I woke up so late that I overlooked it. =P It sucks getting old. And then at work, flowers came for me, yellow roses with accents of irises and some purple flowers. Also from Mr. W. People passing by the courtroom have been admiring them all day.
I also got a Prince tennis raquet from my judge along with a sporting good giftcard (Ann and I thought we’d brush the tennis rust off ourselves and start playing tennis together), a big bottle of Patron tequila and two gourmet mini cakes from my reporter…
…an efficient plug-in water boiling kettle from my courtroom assistant, and a surprise floral basket delivery from a mystery person. I figured out pretty quickly, as the card was written to “Cindy Lou,” that it was from Jordan, and I was right.
I had wanted a quiet birthday at work, mostly unnoticed, but you can’t be invisible very effectively when you walk out of a building with this stuff in your arms. I did feel very loved and appreciative. =)
the hippo and the birdie bid u a farewell until next year !
i dunno why, but that polynesia photo cracks me up. i think it’s the headdresses.
Well, at 34 the math is harder. When I turned 40 it was the sentence. “Yep, you’re getting old, I may have to trade my 40 in for two 20’s” that kinda burned my a$$. Hmmmm..:)
No worries, you look great and it really isn’t that bad. Good genetics win out over the numbers every time. :oD
OK after going up and down, up and down, I honestly think you look better now, but I think Mr. W pulls off the 2005 look well. I like his hair better I think. ha Needless to say…you both look GREAT!
Looks like you had an awesome birthday. Those cakes look divine!! And Jordan is SUPER sweet for sending you a gift.
Glad you had a good 34th bday.
anny – …or maybe it’s us.
KitKat – I’m sure I’ll be hearing a lot of those wisecracks when I reach those years. I can’t say I don’t have it coming, the old jokes I’ve made for the past 5 years. =P You’re right about it not being that bad; I think as long as I don’t look my age (meaning YOUNGER, not older), I’ll be all right.
Flat Coke – Yeah, his 2005 look of bleached blonde explosion. I considered posting a photo where we BOTH looked bad, but I settled for one in which we both have multiple chins.
Yup, the only thing sweeter than Jordan’s gift was her card. 🙂
OK. So-I think dumping me decreased his stress factor, that’s why he looks more relaxed now. Ha ha ha. No wait! It’s all about you. Being happy with you makes him look better now! (But agree I always liked the Billy Idol look on Mr. W). You look fantastic in both photos. Tom and I were chuckling over the idea that turning 34 is feeling old. I think he felt that at 35. I felt it at 25!!! Then I gave up on the “old” feeling and embraced the “like wine, we get better with age”, because I think we do!
He didn’t dump you, you left him! He would’ve gladly hung around if you had stayed.
I thought I was cool with the Billy Idol look back then, but looking back from now, I like his current look sooooo much better. I’m surprised how much I don’t like his look then. But it still beats his look when he shaved his head. =P Hmm. Maybe I should post more pictures.
Re the age number going up, I’ve always wanted to be the type of girl who could point to her face late in life and say proudly, “I earned each and every one of these wrinkles.”
Yeah I guess I did leave first- but I offered to take him with me! About getting older…speaking from experience, complete acceptance is easier to do in concept than in reality. Reality says “NOOOO!!!! Give me cream!!!”
I’ll take cream. Actually, I bought some but have always been too lazy to actually use any of it.
What do you mean, “speaking from experience?” You shouldn’t have much experience in aging, despite what the AARP email in your inbox seems to say about you. (Why ARE you on that mailing list?)