My mother always gets me the best birthday presents and this year, in particular, she really, really did well.  I’ve wanted a cameo ring for a long time, but it couldn’t be just any cameo ring–it had to be vintage.

Isn’t it gorgeous?  Even the box is vintage.  *jumpy claps* What about you?  What’s the best birthday present you’ve ever gotten?

First off – a belated Happy Birthday to Jillian :-)  I loved her message of hope, and what a wonderful inspiration that is.  And a big whoohooo for us Pisces gals! Because while I don’t figure today’s post will be inspiring in any way *g* I do want to celebrate my birthday with you all, too! 

Or, as my children like to call it, my yearly reign as Queen for the Day.

I love being Queen for the Day.  I get to sleep in.  I get to do nothing or anything or everything.  I can have a facial or massage, or go shopping or curl up on the couch and watch movies in my jammies until midnight.  My husband and oldest daughter take the day off work, the youngest has a modified school day and we spend the entire day together doing whatever I want (now, in all fairness, they get their own majestic day on their birthday! I’ll admit, I’m not really looking forward to April and a day at the shooting range, but fair is fair.)   Queendom doesn’t come with omnipotent powers, unfortunately.  I can’t wish up a fortune or wish away a decade of my age (but how cool would that be?)  I have to respect the law of the land, of course.  And no matter how hard I wish or wave my queenly sceptor (or hairbrush, whatever), I haven’t managed to manifest Johnny Depp in person. But I’ve spent many a’year with with the next best thing (refer back to the couch and jammies scenario *g*).

Despite the wonderful power conferred by my queenly status, my plans for the day are actually pretty mellow.  Then again, given the craziness of life, mellow is a major treat.  I have a facial appointment, and am planning a trip to my favorite place – the bookstore! Lots of fun and I get to wear my favorite boots (another important treat to being Queen of the Day, since I don’t actually get a crown, darnit).  Lunch out and a long walk with the dogs, and a big dinner with the entire family. Hubby is barbequing, and he ordered a decadent chocolate ice cream cake to hold all of the candles.  I picked ice cream cake this year because while I like it enough to enjoy a celebrational piece,  its not my favorite so I won’t be tempted to eat more.  I’ll wind up my reign with a cuddle session with my girls while we watch something animated.  I haven’t quite figured out yet if I want to do Tangled or Beauty and the Beast.

 

If you could be Queen for the Day, what would you do?  And what would your royal meal and dessert consist of? 

Today I turn fifty. Wow. That’s going to take a while to sink in. I feel young on the inside. But, though I really miss my energetic, thinner, more limber 20 year old body, I can’t complain. I’m wiser now. More content. And having lived fifty years gives one a perspective that is more hopeful.
There’s a lot to be worried about in this world. Teens committing suicide from bullying. Wall Street and corporate greed. So many people out of work and losing their homes. Politicians lying and only serving themselves. Some days it seems like there’s nothing good left in this world.
Then the other night, I went to my daughter’s Jr. High school parent orientation. I listened as teachers, coaches, choir teachers, and band leaders talked with such enthusiasm about their jobs. Even the principal seemed excited about teaching teenagers. I couldn’t believe it, but I could tell they were genuine in their joy. Some of the teens from the choir sang, a few “steppers” performed and these kids were good. Teenagers! Aren’t they all supposed to be disrespectful, spoiled, drug addicted bullies? Maybe we feel that way because so often we only hear about the troubled ones. What’s that old news adage? “If it bleeds, it leads?” But if we look around we can notice small acts of kindness, people giving of themselves, helping each other. Families struggling through hard times and still loving each other. So, today I’m giving myself the birthday gift of hope. I choose to keep believing in the good things in this world. I believe that right will win over evil, and that love will triumph over hate and fear. And isn’t that what Romance novels are all about? Love wins in the end. If you want help feeling hopeful, listen to the new song by country artist Dierks Bentley Homehere
If you don’t have time to listen to the whole thing, here are words:
West, on a plane bound west, I see her stretching out below
Land, blessed motherland. The place where I was born
Scars, yeah she’s got her scars. Sometimes it starts to worry me
Cause lose, I don’t wanna lose Sight of who we are
From the mountains high To the wave crashed coast
There’s a way to find Better days I know
It’s been a long hard ride Got a ways to go
But this is still the place That we all call home
Free, nothing feels like free Though it sometimes means we don’t get along
Cause same, no we’re not the same But that’s what makes us strong
Brave, gotta call it brave To chase that dream across the sea
Names, and they signed their names For something they believed
Red, how the blood ran red And we laid our dead in sacred ground
Just think, wonder what they think If they could see us now
It’s been a long hard ride And I won’t lose hope
This is still the place That we all call home
And oh yeah! My new Blaze, Once a Hero… is on shelves now! My hero and heroine both learn to hope again.
Tell me something you’re hopeful about and I’ll send one of you a copy!

I’ve been working on new story ideas lately and noticed that most of my heroines hover around age 27, which, it “dawned” on me, is how old I feel. Or rather, where I locked down my mental self.

So when I’m galloping around and swiveling my hips in Zumba (Latin-Hip-Hop aerobic dance) class at my gym, I picture myself at that age, with no wrinkles or saggy neck skin or knee dimples. Which is also, by the way, why I stay back from the gym mirrors. Fuzzy vision is my friend, ahem.

In fact, when I go out to a restaurant or bar or a party and catch sight of myself in the bathroom mirror I always hesitate…who is this woman? Not the smooth-cheeked, glittery-eyed, perky blonde with the trim figure in my head, but a slightly worn out female with a hopeful expression but signs of…age. Sigh.

What age are you locked into in your head? Do you know why you stuck at that age? For me, I think I was at the crossroads of insecure youth and the sky’s-the-limit adulthood at the time.

Of course it took a few more years for me to really become an adult (and some would say I still have a ways to go) and a few more to achieve my dream of being a full-time novelist, but the journey began in earnest that year of my life.

And now I see no end in sight to the stories I want to tell about my late-twenties heroines. I just sent off two new story ideas to my editor, am working on the galleys for my first SuperRomance, A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS, out in November and expect revisions any day to HOME TO HARMONY, to be released in January.

So maybe a 27-year-old spirit in an, um, well, older body is not so bad after all!
All my best,
Dawn Atkins
www.dawnatkins.com

I had a birthday this week. That’s always a big, fun deal for me. Because I’m in the midst of raising children and my natural disposition is fairly quiet, practical and hard working (it’s those Dutch roots), I don’t make a lot of fuss over myself the rest of the year. But all bets are off on my birthday. It’s the one time of year I feel no shame in maneuvering the world around to fit me.

During the early years of marriage where I did not bother to make a few b’day requests, I was a bit disappointed. I mean, my husband tried. I’d get a gift, but probably not a card. And never a cake. With no cake, there’s no singing, no candles, no lights out brouhaha and clapping. Call me juvenile, but isn’t it fun to be fussed over once a year?? I occasionally baked my own cake. But as I grow older, I realized this is silly. It’s my big day, I can dang well have a cake that I didn’t have to put in the oven myself.

So this year, my husband phoned from Sam’s Club on my special day to see if he was forgetting anything. Great! So thoughtful! I immediately prompted him to remember that there is a birthday basic that’s a sweet and he really should pick that up. I assumed this was an obvious request since we’ve had a birthday cake debate for years in this house. Well, he acted like he knew exactly what I meant and said, “Of course! No problem!” He showed up at home with two pounds of chocolate. No cake.

I had to laugh. He tried, right? And who can argue with two pounds of chocolate? We ended up baking a cake together that night and he took on the process of making homemade frosting all by himself. He even scavenged through the cabinets for the sugar letters we used to use on the kids’ cakes and created b’day messages in a special code language since there weren’t enough vowels for all that he wanted to say. It was the best birthday cake ever. Lots of fuss. Lots of family time.

And as a special birthday bonus… I’ve been eating chocolates all week.

***Tell me this– a birthday’s not a birthday at your house until… what? Do you like to have dinner out? A special food? Flowers? What birthday traditions make your big day complete? I’ll give a copy of any book from my backlist to three random posters since it’s my birthday week and I want to share the joy!***