Make a Wish!

Tomorrow is my 35th birthday. I almost forgot. A blog friend has her birthday on Wednesday, and she made a little dream list of gifts she would wish for. This seemed like lots of fun, and so I decided to do it. You can tell a lot about people by what they would wish for if they could have anything, and I hardly ever allow myself to dream materialistically. Someday I will not be broke. Someday I will be able to have what I need and even some of what I want. But until then, I feel very, very blessed, and I don't make a habit of complaining or feeling disadvantaged. This list is just for fun, and just because it's my birthday. So here goes:

1. A baby grand piano would be very nice. Or, at least to have my Baldwin upright tuned and the music stand repaired. Dare I wish for a metronome?

2. A pedicure and a massage. Maybe several massages, since it would take that to undo the mess that is my neck and upper back. Better yet, several visits to the chiropractor, and then several massages. And then a pedicure.

I feel greedy already, but this is kind of fun.

3. A minivan or a Suburban. It's hard to only have one car that seats five and barely runs and needs new tires when you have a family of eight (although I'm VERY grateful that my husband's parents have allowed us the use of that car!) Maybe I could do something magnificent for someone else, and then they could write Oprah a letter telling her how selfless I am, and then maybe she could arrange for a really great wish to come true and I could have a brand new Suburban or Honda Odyssey and a $5000 gas card. Wow. What a pipe dream.

Okay, back to reality. Sort of.

4. A nice watch. Like this one:

Or this one:

5. A Kitchen Aid Artisan series Empire Red 5 quart stand mixer. But only if my mom already has one. She dreamed of a Kitchen Aid mixer my whole life and it wouldn't be right if I had one and she didn't. Mom? Did your dream finally come true? And why are they 50% off at Amazon now??

6. Some of the Carol Lynn Pearson books that I don't already own, like this one:

Or this one:

Better yet, she sells autographed copies of her books on her website.

7. A Trollbead bracelet. This is such a luxuriant wish I can barely stand it, since these beads are so expensive. But my friend, Piper, turned me on to them and I am mesmerized.

8. A WonderMill wheat grinder.

9. And then a Zojirushi bread machine. What fun I could have!

10. A silver photo charm bracelet with pictures of all my little and not-so-little ones. Again, so expensive I feel bad even dreaming about it.

11. A steam cleaner for my carpets. This is such a fun toy, but I always have to borrow one.

12. A new Sunday dress or two, and some new clothes for the week. I haven't bought but two outfits in the three years I've lived in CA--one was from Target, and one was on sale at Old Navy. I'm easy to please, but it would be so nice to feel good in clothes, and not depressed every time I walk into my closet.

13. A cello. I'd like to learn to play the cello. Whoa. Where did that come from?

14. A whole bunch of cake decorating supplies with a cool little toolbox to hold them all in.

15. An Ipod.

16. The entire King of Queens series on DVD.

17. New bedding from the Pottery Barn.

18. Those cool shelves from Shelf Reliance for food storage and several thousand dollars to actually get our food and water storage in place. And a chest freezer. Now I'm feeling spoiled. Must stop.

Well, that was FUN! Now, back to practicality. Tomorrow, my birthday would be wonderful if my children don't fight, if nobody makes a mess, if I get to take a nap, if I have all of my children and step-children here for dinner that they made, if I get to eat an angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream that Lyndsay makes, if none of the calories I consume go to my butt or thighs, and if I get some alone time with my sweetheart after the kids go to bed. That would be a dream come true, and everything a girl could wish for. I'm a lucky girl either way.