I Think My Birthday is Wrong

I have always prided the fact that I was born on the scariest day of the scariest month of the year--October 13th!

My birthday was on FRIDAY THE 13TH for two VERY SPECIAL birthdays-- my 16th and my 21st.

My 16th birthday was also homecoming. I took my driving test, passed, and went to school in my new-to-me hot red Cavalier. haha! After school, I drove a handful of my friends to get something to eat. I then picked up my homecoming date (still friends) Ryan Allen, and took him to homecoming.

A few days later, I flipped my car. Coincidence? I think not. It must've been the Friday the 13th curse. Try explaining that to a very disappointed and angry father.

Fast forward five years. My 21st birthday was also on a Friday. My college sweetheart bought me a keg at our favorite bar at KU. Actually, it was my least favorite bar, but it was one of the most popular ones because it was right off campus: The Wheel. I think I'm the only person who didn't love the Wheel, but I did love Wheel Pizza. Yummm...

Anyway, I remember I wore my favorite long, green leather skirt, knee high boots and a black turtleneck. Long skirts, boots and turtlenecks were kind of my uniform back then. Anyway, I remember someone else had also ordered a keg that night and suddenly my keg was empty. I though I looked H-O-T-T... too bad I ended up puking in a back alley and going home early. What I wouldn't do to still fit in that skirt.

But, as much as I've loved to be a Friday the 13th/October 13th baby... I think I've been celebrating the wrong day. Technically, if I was born on October 13th in Korea, I would have likely been born on October 12th time in the U.S.!

This travesty just occurred to me... TONIGHT on the way to dinner with Jim.

Should I switch my birthday? Or should I try to squeeze out more princess power from the two-day birthday snafu? I mean, I'm too old to celebrate a "birthday week" (though I try to pull it off every year regardless...) However, do you think I could try to get special attention on both days?

It's OFFICIAL

My sister Hyun Jeong and her fiance, Glenn, are getting married!!  

The special date is October 24th in Korea.

I am so, so happy!!  October is my favorite month because I love the fall.  My birthday falls in October, too, so I have all of these great childhood memories from October.

I used to tell people, "My birthday falls on the scariest day of the scariest month of the year."

Any guesses?

October 13th.

My birthday fell on a Friday on my 16th and 21st birthday.  How cool was that?!  Too bad I wrecked my car five days after my 16th birthday.  I mean totaled.  My dad was so disappointed.

Anyway, I got off track.

OCTOBER 24TH!!  My sister's big, fat Korean wedding!!  Can't wait!!  I really hope we can swing the trip and that nothing crazy will happen between now and then.

SKATELAND WAS KIND OF SKANKY

Me, rolling with the small fries

So I went roller skating on my birthday...and now I know why my friend says she won't drop off her kids at the skating rink on a Friday night. First of all, I love skating. I haven't done it since the sixth grade, when I lived for the snowball and the limbo. Two of my coolest moments were winning the limbo and skating the snowball with Jeremy Hamilton (an 8th grader.) Awesome.

Anyway, skating is hard these days. I thought I was going to fall. I was afraid to skate backwards. The kids whizzed by me, and I thought they were going to blow me over. Yet the hardest thing to endure at the rink was...watching the kids. I was shocked by their appearance and their skanky behavior.

First of all, I was surprised by the music choice. "London Bridge" by Fergie, "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake, and "Money Maker" by Ludacris are all great songs, but I would expect to hear them at Icon rather than a rink filled with middle schoolers. I mean, c'mon, don't you think Jessica Simpson or JoJo is a little more age appropriate?! Anyone ever heard of Hilary Duff?! Girls were wearing short shirts, tight pants, and dancing in the corner like strippers (no offense to those who work as strippers.) Even one of the workers told us that Friday nights are kind of rough, and that we should come back for Family Night.

I'm not knocking Skateland. I think it is a great place for fun. But seriously, how do we influence our kids so they don't feel like they need to act this way? And how do we teach young women that it's not okay to degrade themselves? I don't mean to sound old, conservative, or uncool, but when did kids stop going to the skating rink to skate?

Jim and Michelle, looking old and out of touch

FRIDAY THE 13TH

Ahhhh, Friday the 13th is coming up. It is supposed to be an unlucky day, the kind Michael Myers comes to get you, kind of day.

I think it is more spectacular and creepy because Friday the 13th happens to be in October, therefore making it the scariest day of the scariest month of the year.

Good news, though. Nasa says that on Friday the 13th in April 2029, millions of people will see a point of light that will glide across the sky faster than many satellites and will be brighter than most stars.

The reason I like the 13th of October? It is my birthday. This year, though, it feels more like an annoyance...I guess that's another sign of becoming an old bitty. People stop feeling so happy on their birthdays because they realize they're getting older, and things stop working like they used to. My brain, my body, it's all going downhill.