I am 67 years young today. 
I
I feel like I am 18. Eighteen with 49 years of experience that is. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Some people may say, “Over the Hill,”
I say, “Only Just Begun.”
Recently, well last winter when it was cold, blustery, and snowy outside and I stayed inside all day playing on the internet, I ran across a really, really, REALLY cool web site. I could get lost on this web site for days at a time.
You will want to check it out, 12 Most. They bill themselves as:
Savvy smartitude for business professionals in easy to digest list posts that mean business.
The site is simply hundreds of lists on wide-ranging topics organized into three broad categories: Business, Media, and Lifestyle. All of them use the same format. Each post is simply a list of 12 things – thus 12 Most – on one topic. For instance:
12 Most Powerful Aspects of Small Bloggers
12 Most Counterintuitive Ways to Grow Your Business
12 Most Classic Romantic Songs for Valentines Day
12 Most Detrimental Business Lunch Faux Pas
12 Most World Beating Leadership Lessons from Poets
12 Most Deadly Sins of Public Speaking
12 Most Inspirational Messages for Creatives
12 Most Empowering Phrases Your Young Athlete Needs to Hear
From these titles you can see how addictive this web site can be. It is a never ending parade of short, sweet pieces of education, inspiration, and thought provoking reads. These lists can make you think, bring a tear to your eye, or make you laugh out loud in turn.
On that blustery snowy day last winter I also stumbled upon the gem below.
On my birthday I could not say it any better myself.
The only change I would make is to item 8. I would change it to Twitter simply because of all the WONDERFUL friends I have met there. Thank you my Twitter friends. You make every day a birthday!
12 Most Meaningful Reasons to Celebrate a Birthday
Republished with permission, courtesy of 12 Most.
12 Most Meaningful Reasons to Celebrate a Birthday
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When you’re first born, still in single digits or even hitting 21, birthdays are pure joy: cake, ice cream, parties, friends and lots of presents. Somewhere along the way, however, many of us start dreading them.
It’s only natural to get reflective and wistful as we pass these annual milestones. But there are many reasons to celebrate birthdays. And, as someone who still loves birthdays each year, here’s a list of my top 12.
1. You still have one
My dad says that having birthdays is much better than the alternative. Glib and flippant? Maybe. But true? Absolutely. It’s confirmation you have another day on this Earth to live and love.
2. Wisdom really does come with age
I am so glad, now steaming through my fourth decade, that I don’t have to make again the bloopers I made in my teens, twenties or even thirties.
3. Self confidence also comes with age
Young confidence is sometimes hard to separate from arrogance. But seasoned confidence is subtler, more assured than arrogant (for most folks, anyway).
4. Accomplishments really rack up
The older you get, the more you’ve done. Take stock of your life and give yourself a huge pat on the back. You’ve done a lot!
5. You’ve figured out the shortcuts
For the things you love to do, you probably don’t even realize the depth of your mastery. But with years of practice comes true skill. For instance, I rarely use recipes to cook, I know how to soothe a baby without looking in a book for clues and the garden in front of our house is thriving with just me as its caretaker.
6. Love
Whether you’ve been with your partner a long time, or not, you’ve no doubt loved intensely at some point in your life. Aging means you’ve had more time to love and more opportunities and people to love. That’s wonderful!
7. Treats
Who said only the kids get to munch on birthday food? I treated myself to a wonderful chocolate croissant this morning for my birthday. And I didn’t feel one second of guilt.
8. Facebook
The older you get the more friends you have from different phases of your life — from grade school and on, through the different schools you’ve attended, jobs you’ve held, groups you’ve joined and cities you’ve lived in. Chances are those folks are sprinkled through your collection of Facebook friends. And when birthdays roll around, many of them send messages and cheery tidings of good wishes. It’s a daylong dose of happiness from people throughout your life. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
9. You reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going
I think this is good thing. When you’re young, you merely celebrate birthdays. After you’ve put some real miles on your tires — so to speak — you can appreciate the journey. And you don’t take things for granted, as you tend to do without that perspective.
10. Silliness
It’s a day that no one is going to mind if you sing, blow bubbles, dance or just giggle a lot. You can be kid. But you can enjoy that like a grownup.
11. Being grateful
In our younger years, we might whine when we don’t get the gift we want. Or, when something else disappoints us that seems like a big deal to our childhood selves. With maturity, we know how to put those things in perspective. We know what’s trivial and what really matters.
12. Cake
Birthday cake is still one of the very best things about birthdays, no matter how many you’ve had.
What are some of your favorite things about birthdays? And do you celebrate, or hide, when yours comes along?
The Author:
Becky Gaylord
http://www.gaylordllc.com
Becky worked as a reporter for more than 15 years in Washington, D.C.; Sydney, Australia; and Cleveland, Ohio for major publications including the New York Times, Salon.com, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, and was Associate Editor of the Plain Dealer’s Editorial Page before she launched the consulting practice, Gaylord LLC. The company helps clients improve their external relations and communication and increase their influence and impact. Becky blogs about that (a few other things) at Framing What Works.
Featured Recipe Spaghetti Alla Carbonara
For my birthday I wanted something really, really, REALLY extra special. Since I could not get to San Francisco or Alaska for fresh Alaskan King Crab, I went with bacon.
Cause nothing says, “special” more than bacon! And if you want to make an even Extra Special Dish, use two different kinds of bacon! Now you are living!
Today, in addition to regular bacon I doubled my pleasure with that special kind of bacon – prosciutto. Nothing like doubling my pleasure. Right?
This is the best of the best comfort food.
And best of all this is a super simple dish to make.
This is a Henry Lewis Creel recipe from his fantastic book, “Cooking For One Is Fun.” All I did was make it for two and added prosciutto. You can double it again for four if you would like.
This dish is a bit more expensive than I usually run on this blog. But it is my birthday. And on our birthday, we are all worth it!
This is what you will need for 2 people:
8 slices bacon
4 pieces of prosciutto
1 small onion
½ pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Here is what you do:
Put a pot of water up to boil for the spaghetti.
Chop the onion into a small dice.
Slice the bacon and the prosciutto into strips.
Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Look at the beautiful color on that bacon. YUM! Drain on paper towels.
Add the spaghetti to the pot and cook according to package directions.
Add the onion to the bacon fat. If there is more fat than needed pour some off. I keep extra bacon grease in my fridge for other recipes. You can never have too much bacon fat.
Sauté the onion until wilted.
Separate the yolk from the whites. Reserve the whites for another use.
Drain the spaghetti and add the butter to the empty pot and swirl around until the bottom and all sides are coated with the butter.
Return the spaghetti to the pot.
Mix the egg yolks and the cream…….
…….. and pour over the spaghetti.
Add the bacons, cheese, and onion.
Add salt and pepper if desired. I did not desire. The bacon is already salty enough and I did not want pepper to detract from the bacon.
Toss well.
Serve hot with a salad.
Bon appétit!!!
Cost
8 slices bacon $2.24
4 pieces of prosciutto $3.00
1 small onion $0.24
½ pound spaghetti $1.29
2 tablespoons butter $0.16
2 egg yolks $0.33
4 tablespoons heavy cream $1.00
½ cup grated Parm cheese $1.75
Salt and pepper to taste —-
Total cost = $10.01
Cost per person = $5.00
Quote of the Day
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Satchel Paige
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