Golden Birthday

Your "Golden Birthday" is when you turn the age of the day of your birthday. For example, today I turned 29 on June 29th. Considering they say that women just keep turning 29, this means it will be my Golden Birthday every year from now on! :)

So how does one celebrate an extra special birthday like their Golden Birthday? Well, if you are in the middle of writing a dissertation that needs to be done in about 3 weeks*, it's not so much a fun event than it is something you'll turn into one of your life's "war stories" that will become more dramatic with each retelling.

Question: "So what did you do on your Golden Birthday?"

My answer as a function of time:


Today: "I got to my office at 9:00 and worked on my thesis all day. I went to a cycling class at the gym, and had planned to stay and do another, but I felt so stressed about my thesis that I left early and went back to my office to work for another hour. The night before, Michelle suggested dinner so we went to the Cheesecake Factory with some friends. We had a nice dinner, and I even splurged on a piece of cheesecake. After dinner I went home and worked a bit more. I was feeling stressed all day though, I won't lie."

A year from now: "I worked on my thesis ALL DAY. Ug, it was terrible. I was feeling so stressed out. I barely even had time to make it to the gym, I felt so stressed and guilty about spending time away from my thesis. Michelle insisted I at least go to dinner, which is good because I probably wouldn't have done anything otherwise. So we went out, and fortunately, I had fun at dinner. But I had to get back to work after I left dinner which was not fun."

Five years from now: "I was in the middle of writing a dissertation! What do you think I did? I worked. All. Day. Long. I hadn't slept in like 3 days, and could barely see straight by the end of the day. I went out to dinner, but I was so stressed out I couldn't think about anything else. I was not fun to be around. I went home and stayed up all night working, until I fell asleep at my laptop. By the time I woke up, I had 7 pages of the letter H in my thesis."

Ten years from now: "I don't want to talk about it."

Twenty years from now: "Oh, I was in the middle of writing my thesis and was pretty stressed. As I recall, I hadn't planned anything but work, which I did all day. I hadn't left my office in like a week. My office mates were starting to think I was one of the fixtures, and would accidentally turn the light off and shut the door when they left, even though I was still sitting there. My good friend Michelle had to practically use a crowbar pry me away from my desk to go to dinner with her and some friends. But then I had to go back and work, which I did into the wee hours of the morning, and I just felt like I wasn't making progress at a quick enough pace! I was totally panicking because my defense was like 3 weeks away and I still had soooo much to do. And don't even get me started about how hot it was in Austin that week..."

Fifty years from now: "I don't really remember, but I'm pretty sure there was snow uphill both ways involved.... "


Well, let's hope I don't make such exaggerations and have such failure of my memory. I'm very glad Michelle arranged dinner so that I DIDN'T sit in my office all day! (Because I would have...) She's the best!! Though I was feeling stressed out most of the time today. I'd like to say the stress is subsiding, but if anything it's mounting. Anyway, that's a different story. In the meantime, here's to many more 29th birthdays!** Does that mean I'll just keep getting more golden with time?



* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Stressed? Who me?)
** Just a disclaimer, I'm really not THAT distressed about getting older. I just think it's funny.