I am full of woe.

Have you ever heard that nursery rhyme about what day of the week you were born?

There are probably a few different versions, but here’s a common one:

Monday’s child is fair of face
Tuesday’s child is full of grace
Wednesday’s child is full of woe
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

I read it previously a while ago, and I could have sworn that Wednesday’s child had far to go. Unfortunately, rereading it recently, I realized that I had the rhyme wrong…Thursday’s child has far to go. So this week, I learned that I am full of woe as opposed to having far to go.

I think that would upset anyone, to be honest.

Because this is one of those rare years where my birthday falls on the same day of the week that I was born, I thought that I would write about my birthday. I did already write one birthday post this year, however, inspired by my blogging buddy Bill’s post about his favorite birthday, so I knew I couldn’t talk about that one. I wasn’t sure what else I could do. As per usual, coming up with a post topic filled me with woe.

It’s funny to think that whoever wrote that rhyme hundreds of years ago knew how challenging it would be for me to come up with post topics. Impressive.

Like always, my loved ones swooped in to save the day. I wanted to have 28 loved ones each say one thing about me, but considering that this Wednesday’s child didn’t come up with a topic until the Tuesday before her birthday, this post could not be as grand as I wanted it to be. Bring on the woe.

So my blog editor Josh (always trying to rein in my schemes that go awry) suggested that I reach out to 7 people and have them each write 4 things about me. It went a bit off the rails, but as always, my community is amazing, and they all surprised me with their words. I never knew they could be so nice! This might have to be an annual thing…

 

Bestie from High School Rachel’s Things She Can Always Count on Me For:

THE 7 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOUUUUU

Just kidding. Here are the FOUR things I know I can always count on you for:

“Your hair
Your eyes
your old levi’s
When we kiss im hypnotized” …….. wait. I’m still doing Miley aren’t I? And you’re not Nick Jonas. or are you? RED DRESS!!!! (This is the last time you ask me to contribute to your blog, isn’t it?) 😛  

Ok for real-

I can always call/text you or just show up at your house, for basically any reason, but I’ve narrowed the list down to 4…

4 Things I Can Always Count On You For

1. Advice – It’s no wonder you gravitated towards life coaching. You are a natural listener who gives practical advice. I know I can always come to you when I need to work through a problem.

    

2. A Home Away From Home –  There is always a spot on your couch or at your kitchen table for me no matter what. Time of day doesn’t matter. Sure, you may fall asleep at 7:30pm, but even then you don’t kick me out. You really know how to make someone feel like they belong.

    

3. Nostalgia– Let’s discuss, for the 100th time, why Sleeping Beauty’s blue dress is superior to the pink one while we jam out to a song from 2007. Whether it’s quoting Spongebob or our high school selves (we were hilarious), I can always count on you for a good memory.

   4. Adventure– Want to take a glass-blowing class? Want to learn how to make macarons with a busted mixer? (Your readers know how that turned out.) Want to take a weekend trip to Salem, Mass. for Halloween and drive home at 2 AM blasting the Tangled soundtrack? With you, the answer is always ‘yes’, and I’m forever thankful for our adventures. Here’s to many more- HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My Bestie from my Previous Job Marisa’s Haiku about Me:

Pan.

 

She has wit and sass
Bring her cheesy potatoes
Read her f*cking blog

 

(Side note: Marisa calls me “Pan” because it stands for “pants and naps.” No, I do not remember why.)

 

My Bestie/College Roommate Julia’s Top Reasons That We’re Besties:

Top 5 reasons for why Renata and Julia are besties:

1. Always there for each other

You are one of the few people that I never question if you’ll be there if I need you. There are countless times that you’ve been my rock and picked me up when I was down. *also note you are also always there for our turnips*

 

2. My weirdness matches your weirdness

Screaming at each other in animal crossing…. enough said 

 

3. There is no awkwardness between us.

Now this one is special. I feel awkward around everyone. I mean EVERYONE haha and even if there is a pause in conversation or when we hangout and we are literally doing nothing just straight chilling I never feel awkward.

 

4. We don’t feel the need to wear pants around each other

This one’s pretty self explanatory. Pants are the enemy and we are both on team no pants. Unless they are super soft and stretchy then maybe.

 

5. Because you are you and that is perfect.

I am no writer. I don’t write eloquently nor am I as witty as you are when you write so when you asked me to do this I slightly panicked because how could I write something for your birthday and do you justice. And then I thought no matter what I wrote you’d still think it was great because I tried. I sell myself short a lot and one thing I’ve learned while being your friend is to stop doubting myself. You have truly made my world so much better.

 

Who knew in college when we became friends that we would become this close. You are truly one of the best people I know and I can’t imagine not having you in my life. We have each other’s back and we cheer the other along. No words can summarize how great I think you are or how much I value our friendship. Happy birthday to my best friend and turnip buddy. I love you lots. I will end with our weekly chant to the turnips because why not?  “Turnips, turnips! Watch ‘em rise! Try to earn a nice surprise!”

 

My Bestie from Elementary/Middle School Becky’s Verse about Our Friendship:

A Verse of Poetry for My Oldest Friend 

When we were young I was envious of you, And your ability to make others laugh.

When were teens I was honored to be a part of your light, And how you made everyone feel like family in your home.

When we were in college I felt your absence, but felt comforted knowing I could always reach out and find you.

Now we’re adults.

I treasure you more than ever for multitudes of reasons that cannot be expressed in the words of mere men.

 

And I know my soul is better for having met you.

-All My Love

 

My Ex/Blog Editor/Bestie Josh’s Reasons He’s Glad I Was Born:

Top Four Reasons I’m Glad Renata was Born

Having known Renata for around five years now (and having dated her for a solid two of those years), I feel that I have a particularly good understanding of who she is as a person and an uncanny ability to anticipate her needs. As such, I was more than adequately prepared when tasked… er, I mean “asked” to contribute to this post. And, while I could probably write at great length about several wonderful and interesting tidbits, I will uncharacteristically exercise restraint and simply present my Top Four Reasons I’m Glad Renata was Born.

• She Obstinately Refuses to Leave Me Be

No matter how many times I attempt to waste away and ignore the outside world, Renata just won’t take the hint. She never lets me wallow when I’m down, and she is, for some reason, dead-set against allowing me to withdraw from all personal interaction when I’m upset. She continues to show up, time after time, day after day, sometimes even going to the lengths of sitting on the phone in silence just to keep me from being alone. It’s frustratingly annoying, and I’m eternally grateful that she does it.

 

• She Continues to Like Me Even When My Fish Are Dead

As two people who have a history of struggling with bouts of depression, Renata and I have always been in the unique position of understanding how those times feel. One of the best interpretations of how depression truly feels is Allie Brosh’s two-part Hyperbole and a Half illustrated essay on the subject. I won’t do Ms. Brosh the disservice of trying to break down her entire work in a sentence and a half, but the gist of it is that “your fish are dead, but I still like you” has become a code of sorts to let each other know that we will always be there to see each other through the lows, no matter how low they may be.

 

• She Is an Endless Queue of Work

There are so many days that I would much rather squander my creative gifts than continue to pour my heart and soul into things that will inevitably make me, ugh, feel feelings. But, noooooo, that won’t stand with Renata. Instead, she brings me project after project, forcing me to keep at the top of my game, and, even worse, continue to hone my craft and learn new things. I know, right? It’s just the absolute worst, being constantly encouraged to grow by someone who refuses to give up on you.

 

• She Is a Colossal Pain in My Ass

She texts me when she feels nauseous at 3:00am. She hijacks a light chat to get advice on work. She continuously solicits my advice for everything from post ideas to major life decisions. Sometimes, I can’t even turn around without 57 new messages from her popping up on my phone. When we were dating, she even went out of her way to befriend my ex-wife so that they could jointly undertake this endless harassment. All this to say, she routinely makes me feel as needed as she knows I want to be. Renata is definitely a pain, but she’s the best kind. It’s like the pain you get from eating gelato when you are lactose intolerant. You know it’s coming, but you don’t care because you know how amazing gelato is and that life just wouldn’t be worth living without it.

 

So, there you have it: my top four reasons that this tiny, anxious, indigestion-inducing imp is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me and why I’m endlessly grateful she was born 28 years ago. Happy Birthday, Renata. Now move onto the rest of the post before this becomes too sappy.

 

My Fiancé Dan’s List about Me:

• Passionate toward understanding others
• Enjoys learning about others
• Extremely supportive of people she loves
• Hangry very quick, tries to stab me but ends up biting my ankle
• Never gives herself breaks that she truly deserves/earns
• Dives HEAD first into new projects with extreme enthusiasm
• Takes on so many projects, then complains she has too many projects
• Did not give me instruction on how to write this list, criticized my work and said I should’ve written sentences

My Parents’ List of Reasons Why They’re Grateful for Me:

Grateful For Renata

As parents we often feel that our child is the very best in every single way. We are no different but, unlike others, we are totally correct in our assessment. That being said, we would like to give a few areas where we are particularly proud of our daughter Renata (given in no particular order):

Passion: We appreciate the passion that Renata shows for things she is interested in. We admire the way she latches onto ideas and projects and immerses herself into them.

 

Intellect: We have always been proud of Renata’s intellect. Whether it was discussing topics, debating philosophies or simply getting great grades we have always been proud of the way she analyzes and dissects information.

 

Empathy: Renata finds a way to see things from other’s perspective. We appreciate the way we can discuss the challenges within our world and she is able to empathize with our situation even when it does not have an exact impact on her.

 

Humor: We have always felt that humor is a huge part of being happy. We have always tried to laugh at ourselves and at almost all situations. We feel that we have instilled that in Renata and we truly admire how she has developed her own unique humor.

 

Competitiveness: We appreciate Renata’s competitiveness. Watching her attack an escape room is an experience. She doesn’t simply want to win, she wants to annihilate. Renata shows the same tenacity when playing simple board games. We have come to admire this mindset as it seems to permeate through many other aspects of her life.

 

These are simply a few areas that we are particularly proud of our daughter. We could not be more proud of the woman she has become and we are so excited to continue to grow with her. We could not love her more.

 

So those are all of the reasons why I’m great and deserve cupcakes and praise every day of the year! As usual, I find myself overwhelmed with the love I’m surrounded by and want to thank my friends and family for participating in all of my schemes, even if I’m texting them at 9 pm for validation. Here’s to another year of escape rooms, cheesy potatoes, selling turnips, and wacky misadventures!

Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels