So I started writing this OP three times. The first time I was going to give you a year by year account of my life to date (as best I could remember it) peppering it with references to historical events and how, for the most part, they had absolutely no effect on me.
Then, I scrapped that dissertation, and started on a decade by decade approach, but that, too, was turning into a major tome.
So here I am, less than 48 hours from my 50th birthday, and I don’t have a heck of a lot to show for it. My life certainly has not played out the way I imagined (I know what you’re going to say, ‘whose does?’, but that’s of no consolation).
When I was 3 or so, my parents taught me how to turn on the TV so they could sleep in on a Sunday morning. And in 1961, the only thing on TV at that hour were news, religious services (of the non Jewish variety) and Shirley Temple movies. I watched transfixed as someone my aged sang and danced all over the place. So I started to sing and dance all over the place. I knew then that somehow theatre and music would always be in my life. My family was very musical. Everyone sang and played at least one instrument, mostly piano. I played trombone in the school band and in an extra-curricular marching band. I also sang in the school chorus. Then in junior high, when lugging the trombone there and back became too much of a chore for me I got involved in the drama club. In senior high, I was very active in theatre, I starred in three shows and performed in seven others. I was in the school chorus, two after-school choral groups, and the youth choir at temple.
I majored in theatre in college, learned how to construct scenery and costumes and discovered in my senior year that I had a knack for design as well as performance. I had this glorious dream - actually two of them, one a little more realistic than the other. One was that my friend, the journalism major, and I were going to get a loft in The Village and she would write Pulitzer Prize winning plays for me to star in. The other, more practical one, was that I would find a place in Manhattan, take classes during the day to polish my craft, work as a bartender at night, and go on as many auditions as I could. I planned that I’d stick that out for a year to see if I could deal with the rejection inherent in the field, and if I could, I’d do that for as long as it took to get somewhere. If I couldn’t, I’d move back to Long Island and get a 9 to 5 job somewhere. It was a great plan except for two things: the illness and death of my sister, and more importantly, my paralyzing fear. I used Sis as an excuse but after I’d been in therapy for a while I had a chance and look back at who I was in my early 20s. She wasn’t the excuse, she was the welcome justification.
So, after she left us, I got a job with the company I am with to this day, and joined the community chorus to appease the performer in me. I did a few plays with community theatre groups around the area, but mostly I just hung out with my friends.
As my 40th birthday approached, and the arthritis had already taken its tool on me, I started feeling unfulfilled. I couldn’t do community theatre any more, because I couldn’t walk well, or stand for any length of time. I got to the point where I knew if I didn’t find some outlet for my inner performer, I’d surely sink into a depression. So I searched for and found a local Sweet Adelines chapter. It pretty much saved me, and also gave me the strength to get my hips replaced and later my right knee (I do plan to have the left one done as well, but not just yet.)
So now I get to sing and dance every week with a lot of terrific women. Not a bad way to ring in year #50.
first?
Happy Almost Birthday, Rosie!!!
Wait, what? You’re not old enough to be 50, rosie! You seem so young online.
No, I’m not just saying that. I thought you were in your early 40s.
Bed now. Must recalibrate online age-guessing device.
Nice autobiography! And Happy almost 50th! I’ll join you in about a month.
My life is not what I dreamed about when I was a teenager, but it has turned out to be absolutely wonderful, after a lot of crap in between. Mostly self-inflicted, I might add.
But I think we are who we are because of all our experiences, good and bad. And I like myself now! At least most of the time… 
See y’all in the morning…
Well, happy almost halfacentury, Miss Rosie! I’ll be right behind you in a few months! Being an old broad is great, if I could have my body be as physically hale as it was when I was young (it doesn’t have to LOOK that good, just feel that good!) I’d have not even the slightest complaint. The cruddy knee, though, is not fun…
I will have everyone know that the roasted garlic puree made into ice cubes are a smashing success–I thawed several of them in the nuke for 45 seconds and they came back as perfect garlic puree with no change in flavor or texture. I then took that reconstituted puree and spread it on rounds of Trader Joe’s herb pizza dough (one bag, divided into fourths and rolled out to small dinner plate sized rounds.) Then I added slices of grilled red and yellow pepper, mushrooms, a handful each of chipotle cheddar cheese and sharp white cheddar, then sliced up chicken/chipotle sausage (also from Trader Joe’s) that had been grilled over the stove. I then folded the dough rounds into calzones, spread yet more roasted garlic puree all over top, sprinkled them with garlic salt and baked in a 450[sup]o[/sup] oven for about 15-20 minutes on a lightly greased baking sheet. I am not kidding, these were the yummiest things I’ve had in a long time and I am STUFFED! I need a nap…
Ah, I love food. See now, really good food is something that takes a while to learn about–most people in their 20s aren’t all that aware of the difference between good food and bad because it takes time and exposure to really learn the nuances of flavor.
Sex gets better when you get older as well. Youth, to coin a phrase, is wasted on the young!
Well, I’ve finally sent out my Fall Specials Menu featuring $5 entrees. Please send good thoughts my way that this will spur on business. I’m running out of money fast and that’s no joke.
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Happy Birthday rosie !!!
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I was supposed to have been a jesuit priest or a naval academy grad
That was the way that my parents perceived me
Those were the plans that they had
But I couldnt fit the part too dumb or too smart
Aint it funny how we all turned out
I guess we are the people our parents warned us about-Jimmy Buffett
Happy almost birthday, rosie!! That was a nice OP.
I wish I had something cool to say here, but, alas, no such luck. Didn’t go anywhere today, too broke. The Princess lost a tooth yesterday morning, her second, and received a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night. It’s a little unusual seeing her without her two bottom front teeth. I told her that now she can sing “All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” but she refused, saying she’d rather have a Polly Pocket cruise ship instead. 
Right now (Sun. night) I have to go read her a bedtime story and fold laundry. Oh, the excitement. :rolleyes:
Nice OP, rosie. I had a bit of the performer in me as a child too. In fact, I used to walk around on the tops of my toes just like a ballet dancer. Literally. It freaked my parents out, but I wanted to dance, dance, dance. Unfortunately, I never got to do that.
I compensated by singing…a lot. While in sixth grade, I made the Bicentennial All City Choir as a soprano. We even made an album and had a biiiiig performance.
While in junior high, I took drama, and starred as Hildegarde, the nice little old lady poisoner in Arsenic and Old Lace. I was also in the band and played the clarinet. I was damn good at it, and my band teacher kept telling me I had a real talent for it. Unfortunately, I gave it up my sophomore and never played it again.
Additionally, it now seems that I cannot carry a tune in a bucket. I guess smoking will do that to you. It seems I’ve forgotten everything I learned about holding the proper notes while singing. It’s too bad, because I still like to sing. Now, I just sing in my car…with the windows up.
Happy, Happy Birthday, rosie. I’ve got just under six years before I hit the half-century mark. I’m just not going to have any more birthdays. That’s my plan, and I’m sticking to it.
I have to pick my daughter up from work in about 15 minutes. Bleh. I’m so tired, all I want to do is lie down and sleep. I really wanted to take a nice long nap this afternoon, but my MIL came to visit, so I really couldn’t take a nap.
Back to the salt mines tomorrow. I really wish I didn’t have to work for a living. I’m sick of it. Yeah, I’ve got a job and I’m thankful and all that, but frankly, I just would like to kick back and enjoy life now. I’ve been working since I’ve been 12, and I just passed the 25 year mark working for the Fed government.
Happy almost-birthday, Rosie!
Cool OP, too.
And Shana Tova to any and all mumpers with anything resembling Jewish roots or connections
How you doin’, youngster?
(Yes, you are! Even if we’re currently the same age, I’ll be **45 **in almost exactly 2 months. Now geroffmylawn. Maybe you should come in instead of going away, though…? ;))
**Pie **-- I hope things get better for you!
I find your idea intriguing and would like to sign up for your experiment
**Spaz **-- you’re nowhere *near *qualified yet to tell the difference between 40 and 50! And yet both of us can truthfully claim we’re closer to 30 than we are to 20… Hmmm, maybe you should be part of the control group in Aleq’s experiment!
Woohoo, Rosie! Happy B’day Girl!
I’ve looked into the Sweet Adelines, & they rock! I sing alto. How about you?
Love, Phil
Up, caffeinated and off to work.
I’ll save the happy birthdays for tomorrow… Cool OP, rosie. I think you should give us some of the highlights from the OPs you didn’t use throughout the week.
Hope the new menu does well, Pie.
Shana Tova to those of you who celebrate…
And hope Eid is starting for you tonight, Dotty.
Need to get ready for work so I can get in there early and make sure all went well with our release.
Off to make NOL and get the heck out of here.
GT
Happy birthday. Because of the time difference I’m unsure, are you 30th September or 1st October? If 30th Septemember, what time did you first grace us with your presence?
Blurf. Is it Firday yet?
Hippo Birdies,BioRosie!
:mad: Mowed the yard yesterday, and I found 2 definite and 1 probable fire ant mounds in Og’s Little Acre. :mad: No, I won’t nuke them from orbit, cuz I still wanna live in my house; I can’t afford collateral damage.
Yesterday was a barrel o’ fun. Besides mowing, I scoured the kitchen, did laundry, took trash to the dump, and clipped dog claws. So much for a day of rest.
I have a small pile of sand in the garage, waiting to be turned into mortar so I can fix the garage foundation, which is missing some cinderblocks. When I was getting the mower out, something caught my eye. The pile has had signs of critters; little tracks and odd little holes dug in. It took me a few seconds to find it; a toad has made the pile his home, and was peeking out of one of the holes, intently watching me play Farmer Bob.
Brekkie et, and I must go get my second cup of Wake The Hell Up. Carry on.
ETA: Welcome, Lucky 13. You’re going to be tough to nickname, provided you survive The Initiation… :cue eeeeeevil laugh:
Morning. I’m exhausted.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Good OP BioRosie! I shall comment more later but for now, I gotta get movin’. The work thang calls!
Later Y’all!
Shana Tova to everyone-
This is my favorite time of year-- I’m Jewish, so it’s always been a time of reflection and hope for the future and I’ve always been in school so it’s time of beginning as well.
Happy (Almost) Birthday, Rosie
It’s so interesting to read about the paths we take to get to today and the impact our past has on our present. Thank you for sharing with us!
I can guarantee to make alla y’all feel like newborn babes. I just turned 60. Yep, that’s right! You may all address me as Granny Pugs from now on.
I was meant to be a famous artist. I picked up a pencil at the age of three and never put it down until my daughter was born. In high school I discerned a career in commercial art wasn’t for me. In my head I perceived insurmountable competition. As I said, it’s been years since I’ve crafted anything more artistic than a PowerPoint presentation but I might be another Grandma Moses. That gives me another 20 years to eff around til I get my shite together.
Pre-happy birthday, rosie! Yer just a kid!
Gotta run! Gazillion errands to run before the trip. If I don’t post back again, see ya in a couple weeks!
Tupug
Many Happy Returns of the Day, Miss Rosie!
We have seagulls HERE–in the Midwest! When the crows were decimated by West Nile Virus, the seagulls moved in. There was a time when the lonely screech of the gull said Cape Cod to me. Now, they are rats on wings and I (anti gun me) would happily cull flocks at will.
Oh, such ho hum granite buildings. Try looking at ugly aluminum siding, mock Tudor crap and red brick buildings that have none of the grace of Georgian ones. I swear modern American architecture (not the major projects in major cities) seems determined to be ugly as sin. These buildings take no note of their context, their climate or their longevity. Oops, soap box…
Rough sounding? It is to laugh. Since when did any Scots accent sound menacing? Unintelligible, sure, but rough? At least Scots don’t talk through their noses.
I hate milk duds and think cinnamon toothpaste is awful. Want me to send you both? You have Milktray and scones and Emmenthaler…
I don’t think we have an karaoke bars (anymore). The fad is fading (faded).
Tell you what–you come here and live for 6 months and I’ll live there. Whoever is happier at the end, gets to stay. Deal?
I need to run, soon. And then I color my hair. I am getting panicked about this for some reason. What if it ruins my hair etc? is going through my mind. Ack!
I will check out hulu. I LOVE old sitcoms. I checked out the old Bob Newhart series from the library last spring and watched obsessively. Yay for a new obsession!