Tuesday 29 April 2008

Happy birthday to me


Thanks for all the wonderful greetings and funny wishes for my big day.

Love,
E



32 going on 25

Yes, this has been my description of myself since…well I guess since the day I turned 26. This whole age-thing sure is a tricky matter. As a teenager you strive to look as old as possible, eager to turn 18 so you can get into the cool clubs, get your drivers license and buy your own wine. This is all nice, good, and great even, but it doesn’t last very long.

It just occurred to me that I only for a very short period of my life have been comfortable being the age I actually was. I think from age 20-23 I was comfortable with my age (not body and soul though, but you can’t have everything) Up until this point my life as a shy, strange-looking girl with a boyish haircut didn’t find life all that exciting. As I “came into my own” as “they” say (realizing that blond was the way to go and that the boyish haircut had to become history, forever!), I had some nice years before the anxiety took a grip of my heart, body and soul. The whole - “I’m XX years old, I should have accomplished this and that by now” started occupying my thoughts, and it still does.

BUT, instead of draping my self in self-pity and velvet (‘cause everyone knows that’s not socially acceptable) I have decided to take a moment (not to say goodbye, this is reality, not “the batchelor”) to reflect on this last year. New wisdom has been stored and will be used for all it’s worth in the year that lies ahead of me. Here are some of them.

- Finding a one night stand isn’t that hard as long as you know what signals to send out ( it took me a long time, but I finally cracked the code - ignoring them isn’t always the way to go)

- If you like a guy, having a one-night-stand isn’t the way to build a relationship (ok, I knew this in theory, but now I know it for a fact)

- Asking a guy to do the dishes before he leaves in the morning is never a good idea (even if it feels natural at the time)

- Exercise can be a lot of fun if you have the right work-out-buddy and it actually give results to. (some not visible to my surroundings, but nevertheless real to me)

- Mixing vine, cocktails and beer is no problem as long as you make sure you top it with some baileys.

- People asking you to show your ID isn’t doing it to flatter you, they actually DO think you are 18!

- Two whole front teeth is not to be taken for granted.

- Curling can be a very dangerous sport!

- New friends can be found right around the corner. And even though you don’t know their name, that doesn’t mean they can’t be your friends (this one is dedicated to Kjakan - we ARE friends, you just don’t know it…yet)

and last but certainly not least

- if you set yourself some goals ( even if it’s just for one evening) - it is in fact possible to reach them.

So, what has brought all this philosophy on you might wonder. Well, the sad fact is, that tomorrow I turn 32. I am officially a 32 year-old trapped in a 25-year old mind, heart and some would say body…

Therefore, on this last day as 31 I would like to dedicate this text to:

- the doorman at my favourite club asking for my ID.
- the cute 25 year old who thought I was “his age”.
- and my great friends who celebrated my birthday yesterday who had the curtesy and the kindness to wish me a “Happy 25th birthday”

Bless your hearts!

Love,
E - 31 (for two more hours)

How much excitement is too much?

After last weekend I think it’s safe to say I know my limits.

As one half of the party-committee at work I work my ass of trying to find new fun and exciting things to do so my colleagues will bond beautiful friendships outside the office. As I’ve been part of the committee for a while now, the new ideas seem to be further and further apart. So when my co-party-planner and I heard about a new place opening where you could play curling we thought…OK, it’s dead boring to watch, but it could still be a fun way for our fellow computer geeks to spend a Friday evening. We decided to book the place and threw in the offer of tapas and wine at their cosy restaurant with a fireplace.

It started off a bit slow - the guy telling us the rules were not the most humorous guy, and our attempts of jokes did not fly well. Despite this (or maybe because of it, who knows)I had an excellent start, the first game I secured 4 points (for the record that was the highest single point-score all evening….) for my team and was pretty happy with myself. Already then I started thinking about maybe playing curling professionally. OK it may not be the hottest sport for a young, fairly attractive female as myself, but would it be right to waste this God-given talent? Would I be able to live with myself if I wasted more of my life outside the curling court/ rank (??)As the game kept going it became fairly clear that my good score were less talent, and more new-beginners luck. We started loosing points and by this point two of my colleagues had got injuries from falling on the ice. Some were talking about quitting the whole game and go get some beers, but we decided to stay on. And that’s when it happened.

Actually, I’m still not quite sure exactly how it happened, but somehow I loose my balance and falls, head first, onto the ice. Strangely enough it didn’t really hurt, I was mostly shocked, cause in front of me I see part of a tooth…! I put my hand to my mouth and my teeth does not feel like they usually do…plus…there’s blood. I’m sitting on the ice a bit confused as my colleagues approach me with concern on their faces. One asks to see if I’m injured, and as a response, I open my mouth and show my teeth. It was safe to say from the expression on her face it did NOT look good. She puts her hand over her mouth with an “Oh my God!” I’ll tell you right now, that’s not the reaction you want people to have when they see you. More people came over to check on me, and they all had the same reaction. It turned out my two front teeth were broken in half…I tell you, I looked liked one of the Norwegian trolls they sell in the souvenir shop and trust me, they are not famous for their good looks.

As I was still in shock (even more as the seconds went by) one of my good colleagues took charge of the situation and before I knew it, I was in a car headed thowards the emergency room with two halfs of my front teeth in a plastic cup. I was lucky. The dentist on call was excellent, and one hour later, he had glued the pieces back on and you couldn’t even see that my teeth had been broken. Amazing! So…with everything fixed I saw no reason for not joining the others for some beers. The others were very impressed with my appearance at the party after the incident and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like the extra attention… People keep asking me what happened that day and as I can’t quite remember the details, I simply say “my team was loosing, I had to do something…”

I still have some angziety every-time I have to chew with my front teeth, but it’s getting better each day. But as for curling… even though I know saying it is a extreme sport would be going over board, I don’t think I’ll ever say that curling is boring or safe for that matter. And I promise you, I will never try it again!

If you after reading this still thinks curling could be fun… just look at the picture below and ask yourself - how much do you like YOUR teeth?






And people say curling isn’t a high-risk sport…!

E

Me, myself and I

As a single girl passed thirty I do my best to keep up with societys expectations to my kind. YES, I stay in shape, YES, I do my best to meet ”the right guy”, and YES, I’m trying to learn how to cook! Do I make mistakes on my way? I think it’s safe to say I do. Should I have known better 90% of the time? Maybe so. But do I have fun along the way? Most definitely!
Something tells me you would have fun reading about it to, and that's why I’ve decided to start blogging…
E