Wednesday, October 1, 2008

October is My Month !

October 1st ?????????

How did that happen ? Time is just going so very, very fast ! The Queen is having a hard time keeping up, guys ! And don't you say it's because she will be 43 on the 9th, either !!!!

Ah well, this is where we are and let's celebrate it !!! October is the best month by far !!! The best colors for a season, especially in the North East. The best smells, wet leaves, carved pumpkins,... The best tasting food, crisp apples, the first stew of the season, orange chiffon birthday cake... And let's face it, the very best clothes and shoes of the whole year ! Cozy sweaters, gorgeous arty scarves, fine leather boots and not a bathing suit in sight !!! And finally, the one thing that always makes October special for me.....

The Kim Birth-Festival !!!!

Okay, so I am very, very lucky to have my birthday on October 9th. It falls around the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend every year and also Columbus Day weekend here in the States. This means that the family always gets together to celebrate and they never forget my birthday. David works for a bank so he always has the Columbus Day bank holiday off to come home with me ! Also, I am so lucky that I have so many wonderful friends and loved ones, and that they all know how much I love to birthdays, (I have told them over and over through the years !) so they all take the time to give me a little token of love or a little special time together. This makes my birth-day into a birth-festival a lot of the time, sometimes lasting for a couple of weeks !

I have to say that I have been the founder of the Kim Birth-Festival over the years. None of this hiding the fact that it is my birthday baloney for me ! Celebrate me, celebrate me !! I love it so very very much ! It feels good !

I even threw my own 40th birthday party a couple years back, just for about 20 of my closest women friends. We had a fantastic October weekend at a condo in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. And yes, I asked them to bring gifts. I asked them to bring something that showed they had taken the time to think about me.

I received some of the most touching and wonderful gifts that you can imagine, like my Aunt Francoise who gave me 40 bulbs to plant in my garden. Or my friend Tracy who has known me since I was 8, and who gave me a cd with songs on it that we used to listen to when we were kids (look up Melanie - "Brand New Key"). Or my two totally un-artistic friends, Barb and Tina, who went to a ceramic painting place together one afternoon and painted an extremely ugly coffee cup for me that I still use many a morning inspite of its ugly beauty. I also made every incredible woman there a gift from me, a hand made book mark and a journal with a letter on the first page from me, telling each one of them how much they mean to me. Besides the gifts, there was love, and laughter, and hot tubs, and yummy food and drink and even dancing, lots of it !!! It was my best birth-festival ever !

Tracy, Suzanne, Francoise, Mom, Natalie, Lise and Cindy at my 40th Party


Darlene, Andrea and me in the bathtub at my 40th Party

While this October may not hold the exact same magic, and while I may be feeling a little rushed into the whole thing, I want push myself to celebrate anyway. Life is too damn short and too damn hard to miss out on any reason to celebrate ! October is here ! It's a great month ! What more do you need ? Get out there and find something to celebrate !

8 comments:

Sherry said...

Yeah for October Kim!! And yes, your birthday is well placed in the month!! I just loved reading your post...scarves, boots...oh yeah, the clothing at this time of year is amazing!!! The fabrics, the colours...it's all good!!

I love how you celebrated your 40th...just wild..and oh goodness, I remember Melanie and her "Brand New Key"!!!

The month did get here awfully fast, I agree with you there -- but make every moment of it count!! I think you definitely will!

Anonymous said...

I love it! I celebrate ME too...Julie Palooza... Hooray for October! (BTW, you were born on my wedding anniversary date.)

LOve that picture of you guys in the bathtub---love your hair color!

Anonymous said...

Hey KIm, Happy Libra birthday.. I remember Brand New Key; "I been looking around a while, you go something I need, so,.."

Thanks for that very balanced post.. especially the bit about not interfering with someone esle's art stuff.. I guess in this world where everything else gets messed with, your art should be sacred, even if you wanna stick dunce caps on everything... yeah.

michelle ward said...

yay! happy birthday early kim! i love that you are claiming the whole month. celebrate you, perfect. love all the photos - especially the one in the tub. and i'm making a mental note - the 40 bulbs was a clever gift.
throwing confetti your way.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim,I am new to blogging, but now that I have found you I think I'll be a regular! I have enjoyed reading a lot of your entries and looking at the photos this week. I love that you tell us how you made many of the beautiful items you show to us. I feel compelled to tell you that you inspire me, that you have renewed my faith in people and made me see that there are still good people out there. I love your fresh approach to each day and thoughts of spreading cheer. I love the painted rocks, and was fortunate enough to find one (I work with your man). It is my pleasure to have visited you in cyber space. So nice to "meet" you.
Also, Happy October. My Mom's birthday is October 8 and my God son's birthday is October 9, you Libra's are very lovable. I hope you have a great month.
Later,
Patty

Anonymous said...

Oh, Kim, you are my HERO!

I too, am an October baby and will be having a BIG birthday this year, a very special number, and I must confess, I'm a bit at a loss as to what to do. The last birthday, not so good -- recovering from surgery and all -- but you have given our month a proper opening celebration and have inspired me.

Thanks for the inspiration and may you have a fun, fabulous, creative year!

Jennifer said...

Oooh, the Kim Birth Festival should be a national holiday!!! Imagine everyone bringing a little thoughtful gift to a loved one, eating the best foods of the year in artsy scarves and awesome socks and shoes. Yummy! I'm on board :-)

*Hugs* to you (squish, squish!)

BTW, the artsy girl went to the PTA after a WILD day at work and margaritas with coworkers...it was perfect!

carolyn said...

Happy early birthday Kim! I love how you call it a birth-festival! So funny!