Today is my thirty-eighth birthday, and since this blog started in 2010, it is the fifth birthday I’ve had while doing this blog. The first year, I didn’t even mention that it was my birthday, though a few friends wished me a happy birthday in the comment section that day. That second year, I wrote:

I am now entering my thirty-fourth year….I try not to spend my birthdays thinking, “I thought I’d be somewhere bigger doing something better by now.” Though sometimes, this thought does cross my mind….However, I have the firm belief that God has a plan for me. I don’t know yet what it is, but I have to believe that I am where I am supposed to be at this point in my life. There is no room for regrets in life, though we all have them. Instead, I like to take each day as they come and look to the future. I try to be the person I want to be and strive to be all that I can be, which is really the most we can ask of ourselves. We also must know our limitations, so that we are not disappointed when we try to do too much at once.

Obviously, I was regretting that my life wasn’t more. I was unhappy teaching, and while,I know I was doing good as a teacher, I felt like I was a failure and was wasting my education. Th next year, in 2012, I didn’t reflect on my birthday. I wrote about it being St. Andrews Day and I mentioned some famous people who share my November 30th birthday, such as one of my literary heroes, Mark Twain. The next year, my birthday fell on a Saturday and I posted a slightly risqué post titled “Moment of Zen: Alone Time.” You can either let your imagination take you where you will with that, or click on the link and satisfy your curiosity, though some of you I know have already read it because you left birthday wishes in the comments. That brings us to last year when my birthday fell on a Sunday, so my post began with the following Bible verse:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11

As I reflect back on this blog through the years, I think that one of my central messages has been that God has a plan for each of us. While this time last year, I had no doubt that God had a plan for me, I don’t know if I truly believed that He would give me “a future and a hope.” This time last year, I was frustrated with my life. I was having chronic cluster headaches that were waking me in the middle of the night. I dreaded going to my job. I wanted an escape. I would never imagine a year ago that I’d be where I am today. I’d have never thought that six months later I’d be out of a job, or that I’d spend a torturous summer looking for a new job. I’d have certainly never believed that I’d not only find an advertisement for a dream job but that I’d get that dream job. Things like that have never really happened in my life.

Now, I find myself with a wonderful job with great benefits in a liberal New England state. I am being given my birthday as a paid holiday, or that my coworkers, insisting that I not be alone all day on my birthday, are taking me out to lunch. My other plans for today are to make myself an official citizen of Vermont. I’m going to get my new driver’s license, new license plates, and register to vote. Then I plan to treat myself to see Mockingjay, Part II and probably go and have a nice dinner. I expect it to be a good day.

As I wrote four years ago: 

I love having a birthday. It’s my special day, and though some people hate being a year older, I always find it better than the alternative. At thirty-four, I still have a lot of life left to live, and on this journey, I hope that it is bit of an adventure. There is an old Chinese curse that states: “May you live in interesting times.” I have never thought this to be a curse, especially as an historian. In the present, we live on the front lines of history, and what would life be, if it were always boring.

It’s bound to be interesting times when you live in a state that elects Bernie Sanders to the Senate and where the vast majority support Bernie for president.

  
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my coworker’s. This was my first Thanksgiving ever without my family, but it was still a nice Thanksgiving. We had a nice southern style Thanksgiving, since my coworker and her husband are also southerners. There was so much food for just the four of us, but that’s how southerners are, we always cook too much. We can’t handle the idea that there might not be enough, so we make sure to make extra. For my part I took a corn casserole and a sweet potato soufflé. I always love the corn casserole, and the sweet potato soufflé was good but a tad bit too sweet. It wasn’t until I got home that I realize why it was so sweet. I’d forgotten to add the cream to it. I’m a pretty good cook, but that’s not the first time I’ve accidentally left out an ingredient. Thankfully this time wasn’t disastrous, like the time I made a blackberry cobbler and forgot to add the leavening agent. It was so rubbery and hard you could have patched a tore with it. The sweet potato soufflé would have still been sweet but the cream should have cut down a little on the sweetness. It was still good, in fact, all of the food was delicious. My coworker went out of her way to make a traditional southern Thanksgiving for my first one away from family.

I think the highlight of my day was my coworker’s son. He’s only six, but he was so excited to have a guest. I think her son just thinks I’m the greatest thing. He’s so cute. At one point he just curled up next to me on the couch and he insisted that I sit next to him at dinner. He has lots of energy, just like my niece does. Also, like my niece he has ADHD, which he takes medicine for. I’ve known a lot of people with ADHD. My best friend has ADHD. He always tells me about his little rabbit brain that jumps from topic to topic. I always love to talk with him because we can go from conversation to conversation so easily (I have a bit of a rabbit brain too). He gets embarrassed by his ADHD, and I understand. He was diagnosed very late in his college years, but he still managed to be very successful. He’s an amazing guy, but I’m a bit off track.

My coworker’s son is just a bundle of energy, but he is the sweetest kid. He went outside and took a picture of their house and had his mom text it to me so that I’d know where I was supposed to go. Then he sat by the window waiting for me to arrive. He was very excited. One thing I’ve learned from ADHD kids, from my niece to my friend to former students, is that when they have a difficult time with something they get impatient and thus frustrated. My coworker and I were watching her son try do something, and it took him several tries to do it. My coworker said that he was about to get very mad, but I watched and I could tell he was really trying to be good today while I was there. I could tell that he was doing his best to keep himself under control, which shows just what a good kid he really is. It was very sweet. I know he was struggling to keep control, but he did because he wanted to do his best to make a good impression.

I was amazed at how well he did, but one thing I’ve noticed with most people with ADHD is that they are very smart. Not all of them realize it because they have a hard time concentrating on one thing at a time. They have so much energy and their brain is going in so many different directions. I have to say though, in everyone I have known with ADHD, a little patience is what they really need, and those who don’t have ADHD need a lot of energy. If you’ve ever known someone with ADHD, you know how loving and good-hearted they are. That might not be true of all people who are ADHD, but it is true of all the ones I’ve known.

I think that the most important lesson I’ve learned in life is to have patience and to trust in God. Those two things go hand in hand. Sometimes, there just isn’t any need to be in a hurry. Just because I’ve learned to be patient doesn’t mean that I always am. A little patience goes a long way, and you never know how much you can affect someone’s life by just being patient with them. So here’s my lesson for the day: when you know someone who is ADHD, be patient. Too many people think that ADHD is really just someone being bad, but what’s really the problem is that people aren’t patient when they need to be. Also, it sometimes has to do with the fact that we don’t show enough love when it’s really needed and sometimes being patient is the best way to show love.

Usually, I write my posts the night before and schedule them for in the morning. Trust me I am not punctual enough to post at the same time every morning. I sometimes sleep late, but last night I was sleepy and decided that this would be a post that I would actually write on Thanksgiving morning.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I won’t list everyone, because most of it would be repeating what I’ve already said in previous posts, but you can go back and read posts like “I Love My Job” or yesterday’s “Vermont v. Alabama.” There are of course others that I’ve talked about being happy and loving my new life. Six months ago, I’d have never believed that this life would be possible. I certainly wouldn’t have believed anyone saying that I’d be living in Vermont.

While I a, very grateful for the big stuff, there are little things too. Take for instance the fact that I can sit on my bed naked and type this post up without worrying if someone will walk in. It’s one of the things I love about living alone, which is something that I’m grateful for because it allows me certain freedoms I lacked before. If I want to get on Grindr in the middle of the night and bring a guy here or go to his place, I can do so without any explanation. I can run and do errands at any time without worrying about anyone else. I can watch what I want on TV. Yes, those are mostly small things, but it’s a freedom I haven’t had in years.

So I am very thankful for my new life: a new job, a new home, a new location, etc. Nearly everything about this experience is new, but it’s wonderful. I’m loving every minute of it. Now, I need to get up and put on some clothes so I can cook a couple of dishes to take to my coworker’s house for Thanksgiving lunch.