White, White Birthday

 We got about 6 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday. Today a fine light snow has fallen a few times.

Today is my birthday. My twin sister and I were born about 6 weeks premature. While an earlier birthday didn't mean harsh winter weather in Southern California, waiting until March would have made a big difference in Indiana. The certificate with my inked footprints and an embossed seal (which nobody accepts as legal, I had to get a different kind from the county when I wanted to marry) stated I was born on a Thursday. "Thursday's child has far to go." I have seen interpretations that the Thursday child will go far, be a success. Or that such a child will have a long life. To me, it means having a long laborious journey. Thursday's child will not have an easy time travelling through this world. After all, it rhymes with Wednesday's child of woe. 

When we were at Costco a month or so ago, I bought some filet mignon and froze it. Tonight I will broil that beef and serve with Bearnaise sauce.

I will saute a vegetable mix from Trader Joe's and microwave some left-over wild rice.

For dessert there must be chocolate. The cake is thawing in the refrigerator to be ready to eat with ice cream tonight.

Speaking of Trader Joe's, we bought some grapefruit for my husband. These are gigantic. He usually only eats half at a time.

One of the problems with such short notice for surgery is that I have some things I need to eat up before my diet restrictions start. Spaghetti sauce (half a jar in the fridge), nuts, sausages. For 2-3 months I will not be able to eat the candy I received for Christmas. I don't think See's Toffee-ettes with the crunch and the nuts will last until I can eat them again. I am busily trying to finish them before February 2nd. I thought my surgery would be toward the second half of February. I didn't start on these right away because I had several boxes of Moose Munch to eat. The See's candy is too good to let grow stale. 

I sort of see this next week as a countdown time to eat what I will miss post-surgery. I even went thru the garage freezer looking for what might work post-op; I found the zucchini bread (with walnuts) I had frozen, and it is thawing on the kitchen counter. I know I have to take each day after February 1st day by day and not think too much about all those weeks of careful eating.

Thursday’s Child

Do you have your original birth certificate issued by a doctor or hospital? Mine has prints of my little inked feet. Unfortunately, it is not considered authoritative for legal issues. I had to send for one with an official embossed seal in order to get my wedding license. The original one did state the day of the week on which I was born: Thursday.

 

The old rhyme with “Thursday’s child has far to go” came to mind. What does that mean? I did a little internet research. Some said the person will go far, be ambitious and be a success. One person thought it foretold the person would travel a lot, see the world. But those interpretations seem to ignore the weight of the word “has”, as in has to go far, must go far. Thursday’s child has a long journey ahead. That might mean a long life. However, the whole poem seems to juxtapose the negative (full of woe, far to go, works hard for a living) with the positive (fair of face, full of grace, loving and giving). Thursday appears to fall in the negative list.

 

The journey is arduously long, a struggle to overcome obstacles perhaps. But a journey to where, to what? In my case, I would say a journey to contentment, to accepting and embracing the real me; maybe even a journey to discover the real me. I am not a late bloomer, one who displays skills past the time ordinarily expected. I am a late believer, a late self-accepter who had to go through many decades before having the confidence and self-assurance to expose strengths and frailties to others. Maybe also a long way to go to be full of grace, loving and giving. That’s a journey still in progress.

 

It’s just a poem, not a predictor of one’s personality. However, it caused some good reflective moments. On what day of the week were you born?