Recently it was my birthday, and I learned something about myself and the real reason for celebrating a birthday, it is a valuable lesson so I thought I would make a note here so that I never forget, but I doubt I will really need this post to remind me from now on...
In an email to a friend, in response to her question regarding how I spent my birthday...
"Actually I don't really celebrate my birthday. I don't find that I need it as an excuse to really celebrate. I like to just relax and reflect a bit i guess.... and well my reflection this year came in the form of scolding from my mom... hahahaha.....
My mom asked me a couple of days before my birthday whether I had time to go out for dinner for my birthday and I just said, I don't want to do anything. I don't want any special birthday dinner.... I think my attitude was one that sounded like "I don't want to celebrate my birthday with you guys (meaning my mom, dad, and sister)"..... but in reality, I just didn't want to do anything special, I didn't want to organize anything in particular. I'd much rather receive a sincere and simple "Happy Birthday" rather than an actual meal....
but my mom got annoyed at my nonchalance and asked why I was acting this way. She said that she wanted to celebrate with me, not just because it was MY birthday, but to celebrate that I was a part of this family and my birth in her life as well.....I've never thought of it that way. So in a way, I'm grateful for this birthday, as I think I learned something very important..... and realize that I am very selfish.... :)
So in the end, I think I am pretty happy with my birthday this year...."
Recently, I've been itching to plant and garden a bit... haha... so I visited the flower market in Hong Kong a couple of Saturdays ago and got myself some plants. I have them around my desk at work so that whenever I need a break from the computer I can admire them... and when I really need to get myself away from the desk and do something that doesn't require a lot of brain cells, I will water the plants and prune them.
I also got a couple of seeds for mini red and yellow tomatoes and mini radishes for my mom. She bought a mint shrub a few months ago, and I thought she might enjoy planning some things that we can eat as well..... so they just recently sprouted! And look at the pretty shape of the leaves of the radish!
