Big Plans 3/3/2024

By : Jennifer Richardson Holt

I have just noticed that driving down the street I live on, the road is littered with fallen jasmine blooms.  I find it so difficult to believe that we have already come to the time of year when things are blossoming. Time is such a whirlwind as of late. Winter doesn’t seem like it should be over yet.  It seems like we just turned the clocks back so there is no way we could be nearing the point where it is time for us to spring them forward.  I have moaned about the ridiculously fast passing of time before in this blog however, so I will attempt to not do it here. I also must say that I find it hard to fathom that we have reached the time of year again for me to have another birthday. Well, I am surprised I am a year older, however my joints as of late have been blasting the news of my aging unnecessarily loudly.

I do have special plans for my birthday so that’s something. Though in writing this the special plans are still future and when this publishes, they will be past.  I may have more that I would like to tell post event but beforehand is what we are faced with, and I have a busy weekend ahead, so I won’t really have the opportunity to do much writing afterwards. I am going to a fancy restaurant that I have never been to before but about which I have heard nothing but wonderful things. Everyone who has been has given the same account and says it’s far more than a meal that it is an experience.  Well, I enjoy eating and the food is supposed to be superb.  But to have a “dining experience” is another thing entirely. It’s in a beautiful setting and is surrounded by gardens and apparently even the greenery continues in the dining room.  I’ve heard it described that you feel you are wholly somewhere else in this place. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t very excited.  Now there is just the matter of deciding what on earth to wear, well, that, and the other significant task of finding something for my husband to wear. I would like for him to not be miserable in whatever ensemble I choose but, I know him and well, promises cannot be made.

That is only one part of my day that I will celebrate another trip around the sun.  That is actually the latter part of the day.  I have also treated myself to taking the day off work. You may be thinking that due to this I will be able to sleep late and leisurely linger in my bed. I am sad to report that this is not in fact the case, as I will still have my daughter to cart off to school.  Unfortunately, I am the only one whose schedule (even on working days) even comes close to being feasible to make the school run.  So, I’ll still have to rise early. I’ll still drive and sit in a line of other parents waiting to drop off little ones.  So at least the first part of the day for me won’t be very different from my average run of the mill school day.  I don’t mind though really. My daughter and I usually have a lovely time heading to school. We sing. We make dance routines to the songs we sing.  We act silly.  We comment on the creatures we see along the drive. It’s quality time so I am happy to spend it.

After the school run is sorted, I plan to do a little shopping. It isn’t going to be average shopping either. It is going to be some of my favorite shopping; the kind that costs no money. I probably need to clarify that I am not in fact going to commit any form of petty larceny.  I plan to go to a thrift store at which I frequently consign a good amount of clothing. Anyone who has ever had children knows that they go through clothes like a person with a cold goes through Kleenex.  I take all my daughter’s old clothes, (and a few of mine that I’m not wearing any longer) consign them at this store and when they sell, I get a portion of the sale price put in as store credit. And as I have consigned a good bit of clothes, I should have tons of credit so I should be able to go in and probably not even have to take my wallet out of my purse. I wholeheartedly approve of the shopping and spending nothing method. I rarely get to employ this as I am rarely around this store when I am not at work so tomorrow is a special exception.

I guess that’s it. I don’t know that you have any interest in hearing about the plans I have for my birthday.  And, since I am writing this before the fact, things could by the time this is published, turn out quite differently from all my well-laid plans.  There will be good food. There will be a cake. There will be gifts and special things.  I am happy that it won’t be just another day like I have allowed it to be on occasion in the past.  I am grateful to have had another year and am happy to celebrate it with a “dining experience” and free shopping.  And now that I am thinking about it, it’s good that the shopping will be free, because dining experiences are very much not.  Thanks for reading.