So today is my birthday.
I’m forty-one.
Which probably explains why I can’t get the lyrics to Delta Dawn out of my head.
Except my daddy doesn’t still call me baby. He usually calls me “Mel”.
I debated not mentioning that today is my birthday but then I had to accept that’s not really who I am. And even if I resisted mentioning it today, I wouldn’t be able to help myself and tomorrow’s post would begin, “Yesterday was my birthday”.
Honestly, I thought I might feel a little down about it. I mean, after all, I’m forty-one. Which means I am officially in my forties as opposed to just being forty.
Here’s a question. How am I in my forties? And why does the word “forty” all of a sudden look weird to me?
Because the thing is I still feel about twenty-two except hopefully a little smarter. But then I look in the mirror and realize I have some wrinkles around my eyes that don’t really go away even when I’m done smiling. And some gray hairs around my temple that are becoming too numerous to just pluck out lest I go bald.
(Note to self: Call and make hair appointment immediately.)
But when I look back on the last year I have to admit that my entrance into my forties was good to me. This past year I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with friends I love, family I adore, written a book that’s actually going to be published, thrown up in front of Ann Voskamp on a bus in Ecuador, and watched the sun set over the Amazon River. Three of those are things I never could have imagined in a million years. I’ll let you guess which ones.
And so I don’t really don’t mind being another year older and I’ll choose to believe it means I’m also another year wiser. As evidenced by the fact that we got home from the road trip on Sunday and I immediately began doing laundry and making a grocery store list so I could get it all out of the way because who wants to grocery shop on their birthday?
Not me. That’s who.
God has been good to me this year and I give him all the glory for it. It’s more than I deserve. And I know life will bring struggles soon enough because that’s what life does. And so I want to appreciate the good and the easy and the laughter and mark it as a stone of remembrance for this season.
So here’s to the forties. May they be forgiving of my sun-damaged past.
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Isn’t it good to be in your forties? I’m in my 50′s, and they are even better – I’m not kidding.
Most of the time I feel like I’m 38, except for first thing in the morning. It pays to not look in the mirror very much.
Be blessed on your birthday, and all year through.
replying to myself to add, thanks for being here most mornings when I’m having my first cup of coffee, on the other side of the Atlantic. It’s a great way to begin my day
Happy, HAPPY birthday, sweet Mel! Wishing you all of God’s blessings this next year, AND lots of love, joy and birthday cake! (P.S. So excited and proud of you about the book. Cannot wait to read it!!)
Happy Birthday Melanie! I am totally with you on enjoying the good times!
May this new year be joyful and fun. God bless you.
happy birthday! age ain’t nuthin’ but a number, right?! i turned 37 this year & can’t figure out how that happened. you don’t look 41 AT ALL!
glad to hear you weren’t in bryan anymore!
xoxo
Enjoy your personal holiday. Hope it’s happy, happy, happy!
Wishing you a Happy Birthday and a wonderful year ahead.
Happy Birthday…….Happy Everyday!!!!
I’m old enough to be your mother…..63….your blog is the first one I read every morning…..
Looking for a smile to start my day (no pressure there)
Anyway…..Happy Birthday from the shadow of the Golden Dome…..Notre Dame, IN
Happy birthday from Richmond, VA! The forties are great. I say this as I am about to leave the forties to become 50 in 5 weeks. I am hoping that the fifties are even better, and I can let you know in a couple years..:)
Lori, couldn’t resist saying HI! when I read you are in Richmond! I was born and raised there. Now living about an hour away in a more rural area. Trying to talk my husband into moving back, or at least closer to town when he retires in less than ten years.
Congrats on turning 50 soon! It ain’t all that bad!
Happy Birthday, Melanie! As one who looks ahead at 40 next year (gulp – how DID that happen?!?!?) this is encouraging to read. I love your “stones of remembrance” reference, makes me want to pause and remember more often.
Have a terrific day!
Happy Birthday! Let’s just say you do your “forties” well. May this year be filled with blessing and more adventure.
Happy birthday Melanie! Hope your day is blessed.
Happy Birthday!! Thanks for creating a place to land that’s full of love and laughter every day!! May God continue to richly bless your work!
Happy Birthday, Big Mama!!! Rejoicing with you over God’s blessings this past year, and looking forward to reading your first book. Now THAT is a milestone, for sure!
Have a lovely, happy, fun-filled day of birthday celebration!
The time goes by so quickly. I know it’s hard for you to believe you’re 41…..well how about having a daughter who’s 41 and who you remember seeing in the delivery room like it was yesterday? Happy Birthday “baby”. I’m proud of you and love you!
Now that’s a wonderful birthday gift, Melanie! God bless you today and each day.
Many birthday blessings to you!
As you get closer to 50, I will be anticipating your description of the dreaded hot flash and the stories that will surely follow. I don’t have the words to describe them…..counting on you and Boomama to do that!!
Happy Birthday! So thankful you share your gifts of seeing joy in the every day with us! You’re a blessing to so many, and I’m so glad to see your posts that encourage and brighten my day each morning.
Your Dad’s comment above is so sweet it made me tear up-hearing about your family makes it very obvious where your tender heart and love of your family comes from. Have a blessed and wonderful day celebrating being in your forties. I SO understand that, turning 42 last April. I still feel incredibly immature (ha!) but spend a lot more at sephora on products that include the word “miracle”.
Happy, happy birthday! Thank you for sharing part of it–and you–with us. I so appreciate you, your words, and your wicked sense of humor. Praying for another blissfully blessed year for you…
Hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of good food! Love coming here every morning for a smile!
Happy bday Mel..this is a wish from India..U ve brought a lot of smiles on somedays ..and a good dose of laughter on others
Hope u always find the humour in life:) and make it fun for yourself and those around u. Best wishes for the book..am sure it will do great. Make an india launch!!!
Happy happy birthday!!!! Can’t wait to get a copy of your book!
Happy Birthday, Melanie! You bring a lot of smiles to my day through your blog. You have been blessed indeed! Forties aren’t bad… in fact, I will turn 45 in September and these are some of the very best of times! I promise!!! Have a great day!
Happy Birthday! I hope your year is filled with many blessings. Enjoy your day : )
Happy Birthday! My theory on birthdays is that it isn’t really about the number as long as you get to keep having them. Hope this year is the best one yet!
Happy Birthday Mel… from Ohio… wishing you the greatest of days… age is just a number. I turned 44 this year and I thought I was 42 all the way up until 8 pm when my husband broke the news to me that I was really 44! Thank God for feeling well and loving and living life to the fullest… because having an attitude of happiness makes you forget your age!
Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day (and eat lots of cake!).
40′s are Fabulous! Celebrate!
Happy Birthday! Just so you know, 50′s aren’t too bad either!
Birthday wishes from KY! I think I remember 41….looking at 49 next month. Now that one seems to freak me out a bit. And my teenage daughter won’t let up about it! I try to keep in mind the saying “don’t complain about growing old, it’s a privilege denied to many.”
Happy birthday! May you enjoy all of life’s pleasures in this 41st year!
Happy Birthday!!!:)
Happy Birthday Big Mama! May you be celebrated today as you journey into the other side of 40! I’m at the other end ready to journey out of 40s and I have to say this decade has been an amazing time. Your blog has been a blessing to me, one that I look forward to every morning. Best wishes and cheers to an even better 41st year!
Happy Happy Birthday, Melanie! Hope your special day is full of all things good
Happy, Happy Birthday! Hope Caroline and P treat you like a queen today. Or at least sing “Happy Birthday” for you.
Happy happy happy b-day from Houston, Melanie!! I agree with so many other commenters about age just being a number. I’ve known some young people who seemed old enough to be my grandparents! And some folks quite my senior who were so fun and youthful! My mornings are made SOOOO much brighter by your outlook, insights and witticisms. Here’s to many more years! May God bless you every day.
Sign me,
Continuing to count the days until your book comes out!
The best is yet to come! And so is expensive wrinkle cream! Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday! You and BooMama brighten up my mornings. I’m right behind you, but I think it just keeps getting better and better! Have a wonderful day!!!!!!
Happy Birthday!
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” Sophia Loren
Happy Birthday dear Melanie! Wishing you a fun-filled day and a big piece of birthday cake!! (Not to mention some good salsa and chips!) God bless for another year of health, happiness and His protection.
Barbara
Happy Birthday!!!
Sounds like 40 was truly fabulous. I hope mine will be just as good. Enjoy each and every day, because time goes on with or without us.
Hope you have a fantastic day filled with family, laughter, and lots of cake. Don’t forget the cake.
~FringeGirl
Happy Birthday. For me, life began and was it’s sweetest ever the entire decade of the 40s. What a great start you are off to.
Happiest of Birthdays to you!!!!
I’m 38 — getting closer to 39 and just want to enter my 40′s healthy and fit. =) Which after 4 kids is proving to be H.A.R.D…….hope your day is fantastic!!!
HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS! Hope you enjoy your day and keep praising the One Who made it! Thanks for bringing me joy each day and can’t wait until your book is out!! YAY for you!
Melanie, What I wouldn’t give to be in my 40′s again. Not that I want all the “child-raising” years back but just the energy of your 40′s. Embrace your youth while you can!!!
You will look back someday and think how young you really were!!
Have a blessed birthday!! Have always loved your blog!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL from Michigan. May you have the best birthday ever!!
Happy Birthday! You are a talented young woman using your gift of writing that not only makes me laugh but encourages me, too. Thank you for sharing your fun times, faith, and struggles. May you have a wonderful day filled with the blessings of being with your family and friends.
Sweet Mel,
Wishing you the Best Birthday Ever! I’m so proud for you and of you and love you very much.
Cher
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
And, thanks….now I have “Delta Dawn” stuck in my head!! Hahahaha
How fun for you to share your birth month with Caroline! Hope you have a wonderful day, and we all appreciate your blogging! You make me laugh and inspire me at the same time!
Bless you and your sweet family!!!
Happy Birthday, Melanie! May your 41st year be filled with as much of God’s goodness as your 40th!
Happy Birthday, Melanie! I know what you mean….you don’t feel 41!!
Believe me, I turn 60 this year….( really?? ) I was just 41….!??!
God’s blessings on your next year, too!!
Happy Birthday Mel! I love reading your blog everyday! I’m a mom of one girl too (she’s 9) and I’m 48. I have loved being in my forties (like you, I sure don’t feel my age, or rather how I think I should feel), these have been the best, sweetest years of my life. I have never felt “old” for one minute, laugh lines and all! Hope you have a wonderful day and smile, ’cause you’re gonna love your forties too! It’s just a bonus 30s…happy and more confident!
Happy, happy day! I’m so glad God shared you with the world on this day. Thanks for continuing to share the blessing of your life with us!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Big Mama! You make the start of my day fun, and obviously make it fun for many others too. May the year ahead bring more laugh wrinkles, more good times, more special days with those you love, and more adventures to make us all laugh! Love from CO.
Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for all the wonderful posts that make me smile
Happy Happy Birthday Melanie! I pray that today is the first day of a year full of blessings and more amazing adventures! Thanks for being here to make so many woman smile and laugh. You are a blessing to so many, myself included. Have a sweet, sweet day!!
Happy Birthday! I turned 46 this summer and was sad for a few minutes that I am on downhill slide to 50. But then I thought of the alternative, hugged my kids and husband, grabbed my best friends and went out to celebrate. Make the most of it! God is very, very good.
By the way, just watched your video from yesterday and couldn’t stop laughing. Thanks for giving me a great start to my day.
Happy birthday Melanie!
Happy, happy Birthday, Melanie! I join the others in thanking God for you and your willingness to share your writing and humor with all of us so faithfully. You truly delight me, and I consider you a blessing! Bop’s comment made me misty – so sweet! I love that you make us laugh, but you also remind us who is the Giver of all good things.
May God shower you with blessings this year! <3
Happy, happy birthday! At least you get to share your birthday with Tim Tebow. ;o)
Has made any well-intentioned comments yet??
You’ll love your 40s, I promise.
Happy, happy birthday! I’m so glad I got to be with you for some of those fun things in your 40th year. Here’s to 41 being even better! Love you!
Happy Birthday Big Mama!! You make me smile every day….you make the 40s look fun!! God bless!!
Happy Birthday!!! Thank you for being honest and real and so funny. We all “heart” you very much!
Happy Birthday! May God bless you richly in the coming year. Your words always brighten my day!
Happy Birthday! May you have a fabulous day, filled with all that you love. Thanks for all you do to make us smile every day!
Happy Forty-One!! I’m right there with you in only two more months. Except my grays are beating yours. I have the joy of going for a hair coloring every 5 weeks now. Fun times!!! I love reading your blog and can’t wait to get my hands on your book! Thanks for making me laugh.
Happy Birthday, Mel! Thank you for writing this blog. You have made many of my days brighter because they started with a post of yours. Thanks for sharing your daughter and your family with us. Can’t wait to read your book. Sooo happy for your good providences!! I have been faithfully reading you and Sophie for going on three years now!!!!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday my Mel! I’m sooooo happy you were born. You make all of our worlds brighter! Love you tons!
Happy, happy day, Big Mel! And just think, you could be walking “around town with a suitcase in her hand, looking for a mysterious dark-haired man.”
I’d take my gray hairs over that scenario any day!
Happy Birthday! Thanks for sharing your life with the world and being real and funny.
Happy Birthday! I turned 53 on Saturday, which to me sounds MUCH older than 52, so I know what you mean. The good news here is that your eyes will go soon, and your wrinkles and gray hairs (and unfortunately stray eyebrows) will become soft-focus to you. It’s marvelous.
Girl…I will be hitting mid-forties in just a few days. This last weekend my soon-to-be-married daughter asked if I wanted her to get me these little patch thingys from the salon that she worked at…they help with crows feet and fine lines. I just kept swallowing and looking at the brochure, with my mouth slightly agape. The Hubby said, “oh no you didn’t”…dang–I thought all i really needed was a little teeth whitening…crap.
Happy Birthday! Hope it’s a great one!
Welcome to the 40′s!!! Your gonna love ‘em!! By the way, the day after I turned 40, my dad started saying I was “pert-near 50″!!
But honestly I’ve enjoyed my 40′s much more than any other decade!!
Happiest Birthday to you! I just turned 40 two weeks ago
Age is just a number!
Happy birthday!!! I hope it’s filled with chips and salsa, good music and maybe a Caroline-special pedicure! Thanks for making me smile every morning! <3
Happy Birthday, Melanie! May your 40s be your best decade yet!
Happy Birthday dear, sweet, funny Melanie! I’m another friend from Oregon. Thank you for bringing such joy into my mornings, sharing all your fun stories and sharing your faith in our Lord. May He continue to bless you abundantly as you continue to look to Him. Love you girl!
Happy Birthday, girl! May 41 even more amazing than 40!
Happy birthday, Melanie!! When I turned 30, I was REALLY looking forward to it… I still felt like I was in my 20s, but thankful to put that decade behind me. Now I’m enjoying my 30s, but looking forward to my 40s… I keep hearing every decade just gets better and I hope I’ll keep becoming more comfortable in my skin as well as learning to cherish the really important things instead of getting totally caught up in “life”.
I hope you have a fun day!!!
Happy birthday- hope it’s wonderful!
Happy birthday! Hope it’s a wonderful day. And you made me laugh, because I turned 41 on August 4 and my parents called me and sang “Delta Dawn” to me first thing in the morning.
Happy B’day. Here’s to another year of wrinkles caused by smiles and laughter!
I just turned 35 and I think all the time that “she is so much older than me and she has kids the same age as mine” only to find out that she is a year younger than me!
In other words, I am a 22 year old trapped in a 35 year old body.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!!! My birthday was a couple weeks ago and I have to admit, I did go grocery shopping on my birthday. I don’t recommend it.
Happy Birthday! We are 2 years, 1 month and 1 week apart!
Can’t read to read that book. Thanks for always making me smile. You are a blessing to me!!
Happy Birthday Mel! Hope your year is just as wonderful if not better than the last.
This is my first time commenting since I have been back from vacation. I have been swamped at work. But doggone it, I was going to make sure I wished you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I am so looking forward to your book by the way.
Happy Birthday! Thank you for blessing us all with your writing. I really look forward to reading your blog each day
Happy birthday beautiful lady!
Have a fantastic day!!!
Aww today is my daughter’s 41st birthday too. So…… Happy Birthday to you, to Megan (mydaughter); to Tim Tebow (Go Gators); and to Magic Johnson. Seems lots of famous, special people were born this day
Happy birthday! May you be blessed today and throughout the year ahead.
Girlfriend, in NO WAY do you look 41. I’ve thought about smacking you for that, but I love you too much!!!! Hugs and happy birthday!
Happy Birthday! I wish you many blessings this year. You share a birthday with my husband, so we’ll raise a glass to you at dinner as well.
Happy Birthday! Thank you for making me laugh with your everyday moments. I hope this 41st year is the BEST yet!
Happy Birthday! I hope this next year is filled with just as many blessings!
I hope you’re having a wonderful birthday. And many more!
Happy Birthday!!
Happy Birthday Sweet Melanie!
Best wishes for a fabulous day!
Happy birthday!!! I pray the Lord blesses your socks off in the coming year!
Birthday Buddies! I always think of you on August 14th since we share a birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day celebrating!! Praising God with you for such wonderful blessings in life!
HAPPY birthday, Melanie. It is so lovely to read you acknowledge your blessings and give God the glory!
I turned 55 on July 3rd, and I am truly struggling with it a bit~~it’s the age that’s considered a SENIOR CIIZEN at many restaurants and stores!! I have actually had a few tear-soaked afternoons during the past month. I too, am so very aware of God’s merciful blessings on my life. But, I sure wasn’t prepared to be labeled as senior–I need to ask Him to work on my stupid, human pride!
Happy birthday, Melanie!!!! Thank you so much for making all of our lives more hysterical and tear-inducing.
We love you.
Happy Birthday Melanie! Thank you for your blog. You make me laugh often and that is like one of my top five things to do. And the best part is that it is usually something I can totally relate to which I have told you one million times. And make sure your book tour comes to WI some how, okay!??
Happy Happy Birthday! I am so thankful for you, and hope you had an amazing day celebrating.
Happy Birthday!!! 40′s are awesome! (You start really falling apart when you hit 50–trust me–embrace your 40′s!!!)
Happy Birthday from FL! Yours is one of the blogs I read every morning. I’m a Miss State grad; mother of one daughter; and 15 years ahead of you! It just gets better and better — ENJOY!
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!!!!! I’m not sure I understood something. People lived where you live and they didn’t have air-conditioning? WHAT?! How is that possible? Like was it 30 degrees cooler way back then? Or????
If it helps you at all, which I totally do not expect it to, I’m counting down the days (38) until I turn 50. Yes, FIFTY!, omg, how did this happen? Only slightly more shocking than my baby boy turnit 30 (Yes, THIRTY!!) two days later. On a happier note, I will be spending it at Gulf Shores with my version of your Gulley. Had to have SOME happiness….
Happy belated birthday to you! I know what you mean about feeling younger inside that the years tell…or the mirror! I’ve decided that we just stay a certain age in our minds…no matter what the outside looks like! My friend Dinah always said that’s the way it was…and the older I get the more that fits. I’ve decided to always be 25. (According to my birth certificate, though, I’m 37!)
Hope you had a fabulous day…it sounds like so far the forties have been good to you!