This week I celebrate Double Nickels — my 55th birthday.
In reaching this milestone it seems reasonable to suggest that I’ve got more time behind me than I do in front of me. In fact, daily I can hear John Wayne’s voice, “Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let’s go, we’re burning daylight!”
And while the package I reside in has changed considerably over the years, I still feel the same on the inside—bright and sassy!
How do you feel on the inside?
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan
Discovering the Seven Selves Life Harmony Facebook
© 2012 Laurie Buchanan– All Rights Reserved
LOVED looking at the pictures of little Laurie growing up into double nickel Laurie! (We are so close in age…) May you have the most delightful week, month, year, lifetime. On the inside today I feel extremely joyful and grateful, thank you for asking.
Kathy – thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful birthday, Laurie, filled with special and spectacular moments! And I absolutely LOVE the last pic of you with your three most loyal and best friends sitting behind you! So precious!
Happy Birthday!!!!
Deb – Thank you so much for the happy birthday wishes. And I assure you that my life has been greatly enhanced by those furry friends!
Belated Happy Birthday Wishes…When you live life well, you have no regrets in later years of your life.
-Arvind K. Pandey
http://indowaves.wordpress.com/
Indowaves – Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. I appreciate you 🙂
Happy birthday, Laurie! 🙂
Elisa – Thank you!
Happy Birthday! Loved the photos through your evolution! Oh My!
Jeff – thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU. It’s been quite an evolution, my friend 🙂
Happy Birthday Laurie … like the double nickles reference. The pictures are great fun too!
The physical changes are clear; good to know the inside is bright and sassy. Wouldn’t it be fun if there was some way to capture in pictoral form all the G & D (growth and development) stages as well? Were you a writer as a young woman? I do find my old journals tell me a lot about how my thoughts and feelings have evolved, shifted or stayed constant. Enoy your celebrations this week! I’m a little farther up the path in age … I certainly am more awake to the preciousness of each day now. “Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music!”
Audrey – I’m glad you enjoyed the photos, thank you for the birthday well wishes. Yes, I’ve always been fascinated not only with writing, but with pens, pencils (a freshly sharpened #2 pencil is one of my favorite smells), and paper — any kind of paper. And I’m a voracious reader. I think those are some of the ingredients that give me such satisfaction when writing. I join you in the celebration dance: “Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music!”
Happy Birthday Laurie, I enjoyed seeing the photos, and your poochies. I turned 63 this summer. My doggies are a big part of my wise crone years. Here is a poem I found for your birthday. Sending light and good wishes.
FALL BIRTHDAY
By Christa Laird
Fall leaves
Detach themselves
Spin away from
Trunks that held them together
During the years of spring and summer.
The foliage is lighter
The trees are barer
But hopes for new beginnings
Richer
Without the clutter
Of yesteryears.
Livvy1234 – Thank you so much for the Fall Birthday poem, it’s absolutely lovely.
Oh, Laurie, I LOVE the photos! What a cutie. Happy birthday, my friend!
Hugs,
Kathy
Kathy M. – thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU for the birthday well wishes 🙂
Happy Birthday, Laurie! And welcome to the double-nickel club! As to how it feels, I will share what my daughter did on the morning of her 5th birthday… I woke her and told her happy birthday… she had a worried look on her face and ran to the bathroom “I have to see!” 5 seconds later, she returned with a smile so big I couldn’t see her squinted eyes “I look the same!” Have a wonderful day, Laurie 🙂
Cheri – I love the adorable birthday story you shared, THANK YOU!
Hi Laurie,
Happiest Birthday ever! I have (technically) a whole decade on you, but inside I feel rather like a teenager with experience and duct tape (for those “keep quiet” moments)! Party on! 🙂
Hugs
SuZen
SuZen – Oh, I just love the duct tape comment! Yes indeed, party on!
“The package I reside in has changed considerably.” Love that line. Yes, so true. Great to see your evolution.
Heather – I’m glad you enjoyed that line. It is, after all, just a package. I’m so glad you stopped by, thank you 🙂
What FUN to see your baby pics and progression. “Bright and sassy” inside. Now THAT is how we ALL should live life. Happy 55-years-young, Laurie!
Melissa – I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. Thank you so much for the birthday well wishes 🙂
Really, you are that much younger than me ? Wishing you the happiest of happys !!
Deb – In the big scheme of things, we’re both just babes in the woods 🙂
Happy birthday you bright and sassy young lady! With your attitude, I’d say you have more than half left. I have been listening to this strange doctor, Joel Wallach, lately and he thinks people should live to be at least 125. I haven’t tried his supplements yet, but they sound good and he makes some good points. http://www.american-longevity.com/walet.htm
You gotta listen to this guy. A friend gave me a cd with him ranting about how every disease and malady is preventable with basic nutrition. I might give it a whirl.
Thanks for being you. I think you rock!
BTW, I love the pic with all your fur-babies at the door behind you.
🙂 KMC
Karin – Thank you for the link, I will definitely check it out. Thank you, too, for the birthday well wishes 🙂
Hey, Kiddo, remember I turned 60 a couple of weeks ago? As I recall, I haven’t been bored at minute. So far I’m having the time of my life, as a matter of fact, I’m walking on Sunshine! Happy Birthday!
Sandi – Thank you for popping in and the birthday well wishes. Have a complete and total blast as I’m living vicariously through you this week 🙂
Happy birthday, Laurie. You make the double nickel look so good that I’m no longer afraid. So replacing the fear of aging, I’m now full of wonder and delight.
Leanne – No worries, I’m happy to clear the path ahead. From what I can see, it looks like a lot of fun 🙂
I love your photos and your adage.Thank you.
Katzideas – Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a lovely comment.
Bright and sassy indeed:
I have been sharing the verse from a card I got for my birthday this year, because I just love the sentiment so much – I will share it with you too:
Just Think Your Birthday could cause a ripple effect of happiness that eventually leads to World Peace. Age locally. Celebrate globally. Happy Birthday
experiencing that ripple effect right now..
Patricia – Ohhhhhh, I just love it. Thank you for sharing it with us here!
Happy Birthday! I see the evolution of peace and contentment, congrats you look fab! 🙂
Kara – thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!
You are sassy, bright and beautiful ! Love those photos 🙂
Happy birthday!
Anne – I’m so glad you stopped by. Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes 🙂
Love the pics… HaPpY BIrThDaY… to another trip around the sun. I love the pic of the dogs just waiting to greet you at the door with a flow of lovable energy. Your question to us: How do you feel on the inside? Radiating pure joy that I have met you and can share special occasions like this. xox
Kathy S. – Another trip around the sun, indeed! Thank you DEAR FRIEND for stopping by and leaving such a lovely comment. I oh-so appreciate YOU!
Happy Birthday Laurie
As Oscar Wilde said “The tragedy of growing old is not that you feel old, but that you don’t!”
You can take comfort from the fact that you’ll always be a kid to me 😉 (Two whole years younger!!!)
Arohanui
Ted – I love the quote, thank you. And I’m so glad I’ve got you and Len blazing the two-year-ahead-of-me with your machetes; clearing all the scrub and debris to make the way smooth and easy for me. More importantly, dear friend, thank you for being YOU!
Bright and Sassy
Right back atcha
Kim – I love it. Boomerang style!
Happy Birthday, Laurie! You are adorable in all your pictures, as well as bright and sassy, or bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as my husband would say. Love the fan club in the window behind you!
On the inside I feel less naive than I once was, yet still filled with wonder and curiosity.
Barbara – “Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” is precisely and exactly what my mother would have said. Clearly, your husband is a genius! And yes, my “fan club” (the four-footed wonders) are amazing!
Happy Birthday! I love the photos. I had similar looks to #4 and #5!
~Becky
Becwillmylife – Looks #4 and #5 aren’t the very worst; I’m so glad you can relate (you’re the first person to admit to it – thank you for sharing my pain)…
Changes yes, more inner than outer I suspect. The eyes and the smile remain the same, lovely and distinctive. Just so you know, in my world the double nickel is but a young thing and some very good years (albeit a bit tarnished in some ways) are ahead.
Carol – Thank you for popping by, and the tip about the tarnish. I’ll be on the lookout and make sure to keep a polishing cloth handy 🙂
Happy birthday, Laurie! Great post. It’s inspiring that you sense your essential essence still burning bright inside you. Thank you:)
Anne S. – Thank you for the wonderful birthday wishes 🙂
Happy happy birthday Laurie. I wish you a fabulous, healthy, joyful, magical, and blessed new year of your life.
Ann M. – Thank you so much for the birthday well wishes!
Happy days! You were a very cute kid and you just keep getting better 🙂
Winsomebella – Aw shucks, now I’m blushing 🙂
Happy Birthday! You look fabulous! FYI We were born the same year because my 55th is coming up in a few months. I look at it as being so lucky to be celebrating this wonderful age!
Organized Living Essentials – Start ramping up and gaining traction now because you’re going to love Double Nickels!
Whoohoo! I can hardly wait!
Happy Birthday honey, have a FABULOUS day….and you look wonderful 🙂
Xx
Vikki – Thank you so much for popping in and leaving a cheery birthday comment 🙂
Happy Birthday! Love the pics. You look the same in all of them. Smiling and happy. 🙂
The Storriteller Post – Thank you for the lovely birthday greetings 🙂
Ah Laurie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you a hundred times over!!! Geez, you are a spring chicken my friend! I just turned 58 on August 26 shortly after our arrival back from our short mid-west trip. Lucille is nine years my Junior, so when I want to feel “young” I ignore how I look and defer to her! Ha! The pictures are fantastic. As I write this right at this moment I am in Lucille’s office with all five kinds who will be escorted home shortly. Each and every one smiled looking at your photos and wee all agreed that the fourth one really is Laurie Buchanan through and through. But you do look great in every one! The response here at this post is proof parcel that it’s a birthday everyone celebrates. And I must say with autumn here I feel as great inside as any time of the year!
Sam – Please tell Lucille, Melanie, Sammy, Danny, Gillian, and Jeremy a GREAT BIG hello from me. The fourth picture, huh? I’m cracking up because that’s the epitome of me at the height of my mischievousness (although Len will tell you that it’s now)…
You look fabulous, dahling!
AirportsMadeSimple – I distinctly hear the Zsa Zsa Gabor in your comment 🙂
Oh my Laurie – I wish I would have knows this was your birthday week when I saw you earlier! Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday my friend. Thank you for your prayers, your inspiration and wisdom all these years. I am excited to see what you have in store for the world with your sassy self your next 55 years! Lots of love
Chris – I got the present of your presence twice today: once at HolEssence, and once on line. Now that’s pretty slick! Thank you for the birthday wishes. I appreciate YOU!
Hi! I just nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award– check details on my page at http://helpwithyourlife.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/second-liebster-blog-award/
HelpWithYourLife – Thank you for the lovely nomination. I appreciate YOU!
Happy Birthday Laurie!!! Love the pictures! 🙂
Eva – Thank you for the birthday well wishes, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
Happy Birthday! Congratulations! Many good vibes for the future!
Told you, I’d be back with a new blog, and just in time to wish you Happy Birthday.
Dave – I’m glad you’re back in saddle with a new blog. THANK YOU for the good vibe wishes 🙂
Happy Birthday! I am 53 and I still feel like a kid, unless I feel old that day 😉
OneHotMess – Isn’t it great to still feel like a kid?! Thank you for the birthday wishes 🙂
Awh, you were cute right from your childhood days, Laurie! Happy belated Birthdayy, I hope you have a more sassy and an amazing long life ahead! Keep smiling and keep making us smile!
I absolutely loved this post. Loved itttt.
Sarin – You’re not late at all. Today — Sept 28 — is my actual birthday. Thank you for stopping by and the wonderful birthday wishes 🙂
Oh I’m right on time then! 😀
Many happy returns of the day once again, Laurie! ❤ Hope you're having a blast 🙂
I feel like I have always been 82 inside with the energy of a 12 year old.
Elise – I believe you just described a beautiful Old Soul 🙂
Happy belated Birthday Laurie!! Wish I had given you a birthday hug when I saw you earlier today! Love the timeline pictures, you light shines bright through all of the years. And……..the best is yet to come!
Lisa – Even though we were coming/going like ships in the morning, it was great to see your beautiful smiling face 🙂
Happy birthday Laurie! You’ve been cute from birth till date. That’s probably the feeling that is the same; “cuteness” 🙂
I wish you joy and happiness, good health and companionship, abundant provision, relevance, productivity, success and fulfilment… Wishing you cuter and more beautiful years ahead!
Teeceecounsel – Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes. I appreciate YOU!
Pingback: Looper, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Harold Lloyd Festival and John Garfield petition on Monday Morning Diary (October 1) « Wonders in the Dark
Readers – If you like going to the movies, and you like the thought of time travel, go check out what Sam Juliano has to say about LOOPER. I’m on it like white on rice! http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/looper-investigation-of-a-citizen-above-suspicion-harold-lloyd-festival-and-john-garfield-petition-on-monday-morning-diary-october-1/
A Belated Happy Birthday !
I passed it a couple years ago…
though I didn’t expect to be here past of even up to 50, so I just enjoy each day as the gift it has been given to me…
Great pictures…..same smile …Beautiful
Take Care…
)0(
ladyblue
LadyBlue – Thank you so much for the lovely birthday wishes.
Hope your ‘double nickel’ day was the most memorable, yet, and may you have many more happy years to celebrate!
I had mine in March and still can’t really believe it happened. It’s hard for me to realize that so much time has gone by in what seems like the blink of an eye. Despite the odd physical twinge when I get up in the morning, I still feel half my age, and looking in the mirror can be a bit of a shock when I see Mom staring back at me!
I loved seeing you ‘grow up’ in your photos. Although the shape of your face changed a little, your eyes and smile have not. In each picture you look happy and content. 🙂
Mywithershins – Thank you for the birthday wishes. Yes…isn’t it quite the shock to see one’s face in the mirror at age 55 when you expect to see a 16-year-old?!
What a lovely walk down memory lane!
You certainly still have that ‘sparkle’; comes from within, I believe. 😉
I’m a few years older than you, and didn’t think I’d ever get to be this age. Seems it was only yesterday I was listening to ‘old’ people say things like: “Enjoy it while you’re young” and “Youth doesn’t last” – How true, physical youth doesn’t last, and yet here I am (one of those old people (in years), and I don’t have that attitude. My goodness, I’m going to enjoy my ‘youth’ hopefully until my time is done…. 😉 A lovely post… 🙂
Carolynpageabc – Thank you so much for the gift of your reflection. Ahhhhhh, refreshing 🙂
Pingback: Wuthering Heights, Frankenweenie, End of Watch, Wake in Fright, Jay Giampietro’s Candy Rides and John Garfield petition on Monday Morning Diary (October 8) « Wonders in the Dark
Readers – All of my younger clients have been going on (an on!) about Frankenweenie and now I know why. See what Sam Juliano has to say over at his Monday Morning Diary (Oct 8): http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/wuthering-heights-frankenweenie-end-of-watch-wake-in-fright-jay-giampietros-candy-rides-and-john-garfield-petition-on-monday-morning-diary-october-8/
What a cute little lady! I know I am a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURIE!!!! I hope you had a wonderul day with your friends and family!
Thanks for visiting my blog it means a lot 🙂 I haven’t been on in a while, but I’m back now so I willl be posting more blogs! Have a nice week!
Adri
Any Lucky Penny – Thank you for the birthday greetings. I’m glad you’ve climbed back on the blogging horse. I’ll look forward to receiving fresh-post notices 🙂
Thanks Laurie! 🙂
I love birthdays! My birthday is coming up next month! I can’t wait!
Any Lucky Penny – I hope you’ll share your birthday with us in your blog 🙂
Definitely! My family planned a trip to Miami just a few days later 🙂 I am so excited I have never been there before. I’m also excited to take pictures of the beaches 🙂
Happy belated birthday, Laurie! I love the retrospective photos, too. 🙂
Dana – Thank you for the birthday well wishes 🙂
Unlike me… You totally look like the same person- LOL! … Lovely! 😉 😀
Aquileana — Thank you 🙂