Fellow DUers 36 years old and older...

[grace0418]

Tell me something awesome that happened to you when you were 36. I turn 36 at 12:04 a.m. tomorrow (hence my screen name) and I need a reason to look forward to my birthday. Right now I am not. I feel stuck in the same place I was last year, and the year before. I figure it might help to hear happy memories from you kind folks.

I don't usually receive many replies to my threads, so please, for my birthday, indulge me just this once! Thank you in advance!

:hi:

[SeattleGirl]

1. Happy almost birthday, grace!!!

I can't say anything really awesome happened to me when I was 36, but it was the year I started working in the field I'm in now (I'm a vocational rehab counselor). This is my third, and longest-running, career.

:toast: :bounce: :toast: :bounce: :toast:

[grace0418]

6. Thanks SeattleGirl

I wasn't trying to fish for birthday wishes, honestly. But they're a nice bonus!

[SeattleGirl]

13. That's okay, grace!

I love celebrating my birthday, and if I can help someone else celebrate theirs, so much the better!

[Sugar Smack]

2. gracie, baby! I'm 36.

The second I turned 36, my luck and timing dramatically improved. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This will be your year. :toast: :party: :bounce:

[grace0418]

7. Thanks Sugar Smack

That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I need a change, big time.

[no name no slogan]

35. I'm with Sugar Smack (I'm also 36)

At age 35, I got out of a bad marriage and spent some quality time getting my shit together and getting ready to make major changes in my life.

Right about the time I turned 36 last summer, I met the most wonderful woman, who I love and adore madly (you know her as Sugar Smack :D). Even though we're separated by half a continent, we are very very close-- so close it feels like we share a brain, sometimes!

35 was bad news, but 36 has been the best year of my life-- so far.

Happy Birthday! :toast:

[uppityperson]

3. I seperated from my spouse

It was great, took a couple yrs to get to the point of being able to. No more nutsoid behaviour (beyond my own). I got to be able to say what I thought and felt and not have to check every word first for its hidden meaning. It was great. A very positive yr.

Dang, sorry I forgot-Happy Birthday! For many people I know, 36 was quite a good year. Happy birthday and the best to you.

[grace0418]

8. Thanks so much!

I'm glad that was a good thing for you. I certainly want to keep my spouse (for now ;)) but I do wish I could get him to be more open to change. Our lives are stagnant.

[Porcupine]

37. I built two small boats!! They actually float and everything.

They actually float and everything.

Look, last year my mom went skiing for the first time.....on her 70th birthday. Life has a lot of things left for you to try.

[EstimatedProphet]

4. I lost my job when I was 36

[grace0418]

5. I'm sorry! Or was that a good thing?

I lost a job at 27 that was an awesome thing, but I wasn't sure in your case. So either congrats or hugs!

[EstimatedProphet]

9. At the time it was bad

It's been years though so I've moved on

[grace0418]

11. Oh, then I am sorry.

Losing your job is a huge and awful thing when it's not something you want. I'm glad you're doing better. When I lost my job, even though it was a good thing and I knew my boss was insane (really, I'm not just saying that to be snarky, the guy had several mental conditions he wasn't properly treating), I did struggle with the feeling that I had failed somehow. That takes awhile, I think.

[skygazer]

10. Happy birthday, grace!

Thirty-six was a watershed year for me - it seemed like it was going to be a bad year but it turned out to be one of the best ones of my life. I shed a lot of old habits and problems and became a lot stronger and more sure of myself. The following year, I made the huge change of moving from Vermont to California, alone and without knowing anyone here. It was the best decision I ever made and now at 45, I feel wonderful!

I hope you have an awesome birthday and a wonderful year. :hug:

[Left Is Write]

12. 36 was great! I loved 36!

I had something of a problem with 35. To me, "35" epitomized the stereotype of the frumpy, dowdy housewife, elbow-deep in drudgery and dullness. 35 seemed so...unremarkably middle-aged to me.

36, on the other hand, sounded exciting and interesting. I don't know WHY I had those impressions of 35 and 36; they are just numbers, after all. To my way of thinking, though, 36 sounded so much better. Feeling that way, I think I carried myself better and consciously had more fun at 36.

It got even better when I turned 37 and discovered an almost compulsive love of fitness. :D

Happy Birthday!

[FarLeftRage]

14. That was 12 years ago

and I was in the throes of still being jobless, for the 3rd straight year... So my b-day was the only thing that was awesome to me and to think it allowed me to keep up hope and 11 months later, I was employed once again and still on the same job.

[many a good man]

15. 36 is the best of times, its the worst of times

That's the year I gambled it all: quit my deadend job, took tech classes and embarked on a new career that has brought me success and prosperity beyond my wildest dreams. Our bank account was down to zero when I got an entry level job. Sometimes you just have to take a gamble. Thiry-six is a good year to make your move!

[Beaverhausen]

16. Life begins at 40 so you have 4 years to go

Not really...well yes really but 36 is a great age! Happy Birthday!

[Shine]

17. I did the CA AIDS Ride when I was 36. It was an incredible & uplifting.

:woohoo: Along with 3,000 other bicyclists, we rode from SF to LA, over the course of a week to raise money for AIDS services. Each cyclist raised at least $2500 and together, we raised $11.25 million dollars. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, for me....requiring a LOT of physical training to get in shape for it. I was so inspired to be part of something that really helped to make a difference in the world. I registered for the ride before I even had a bike!! lol. How's THAT for crazy?

:D

In Chinese astrology, for what it's worth, your special year rolls around once every 12 yrs, making this year, your 36th, that much more powerful. Something else to consider....

I wish you all the best as you welcome in another year. Light a candle and make a wish for all the positive fresh changes you want to call in to your life! :toast: :party:

[yellowdogintexas]

18. my daughter was born 1 month and 2 days after my 36th birthday

nothing can ever top that for me

[AirmensMom]

19. I don't remember much about it, it was so long ago.

But my kids were still home, I had a great job, and had just celebrated my 15th anniversary with harleydad ... all good.

Happy Birthday, Grace! :party: :hi:

[Burma Jones]

20. 36 was a great year for me

Started Grad School and bought our first house. Second year of marriage and the kids were still two years away. Went to a lot of plays and concerts and played with a couple bands. I was grown up but nowhere near old, a great place to be.

[Arugula Latte]

21. I had a two-year-old and a five-year-old when I was 36, so I was busy.

I also started back working part-time, and that felt good to make a little money again.

Happy Birthday!! :toast:

[Joey Liberal]

22. I worked two fulltime jobs, trained in the Martial Arts

Yeah, 36 was a good year.

[flamingyouth]

23. 36 is when my life started to get better and better

I wish you a very happy birthday tomorrow!

I've been blessed with a fresh start in life, a new relationship with a wonderful person, I started working out, I began to finally get my chronic migraines under control, and it just seemed like things clicked for me last year. May this year be the dawn of a new "getting unstuck" phase for you. :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. Well, I am 35 going on 36...so...we're in the same wondering boat...

until 12:04 tomorrow that is. So Let me know how it goes. :hi: Happy Birthday!!!!

[NNadir]

25. Nothing. The first George Bush became President. That sucked.

Of course, the son was far worse than the father, as inconceivable as that seemed.

Later on life became great. Clinton became President and I felt positive enough to become a father two times. I had no idea what would happen.

[Jazz2006]

26. Hmmm - well, I started law school at 36 and that ...

turned out beautifully!

And my daughter turned 10 years old that year.

And my father beat cancer that year.

And life just keeps getting better!

So ~ ~ ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I am sure you have lots of great things to look forward to!!

:toast:

[Gormy Cuss]

27. Happy birthday grace0418!

36 is a between year, no reason to think that you must accomplish a major milestone just because of a birthday. All that I remember about my mid-30s is that it was a great time. Just celebrate the things that are good in your life now and don't dwell on feeling stuck. Worry about that later in the week. Besides, life has a way of unsticking when you least expect it.
:party:

[cassiepriam]

28. The best years are yet to come. 20's and 30's stink.

38 on up is fabulous!
Mature, wise, and still beautiful.

[Fridays Child]

29. Happy birthday, dear.

My husband and I met when he was thirty-six. Should I ask him if that was awesome for him? If I do, he'd better say yes. ;)

Anyway, have a great day, tomorrow. And may your thirty-sixth birthday mark the year when this country returns to its collective senses and cleans house in Washington.

:party: :toast:

[av8rdave]

30. Met my present wife

Doesn't get much better than that! Oh yeah, went to a Buffett concert too.

[bertha katzenengel]

31. I met my beloved, the love of my life, Mrs. Venation

How's that?

You're going to be fine. Really. :bounce:

If I miss you tomorrow -- Happy birthday, Grace. Don't pay any attention to the "anniversary" talk tomorrow. You shouldn't equate your BD w/ a big quake. (The 1971 L.A. (known as The Sylmar) Earthquake was on my mother's 30th. Tee hee!)

[blondeatlast]

32. Best year of my life, no doubt about it!

Married my wonderful husband at 36, shortly after had a happy oops when we discovered I was pregnant. Nine months later, we had our wonderful son!

First and only marriage for both of us, we're celebrating 10 wonderful, fun years on 4/27 in Las Vegas!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
Thirty-six was great for me,
Hope it is for you too! :bounce:

[NewJeffCT]

33. Happy Birthday Grace, I had an awesome 36th year

Here is my awesome thing:

When I was 36 and a few months old, my daughter was born. We named her Grace.


Also, found a new job right before that, and then 6 months later, found a new house for my family (well, to be built...) that cut my wife's commute in half.

[driver8]

34. I got married when I was 36. n/t

[Coventina]

56. me too! And I started grad school!

A good year for me, personally.

[Pale Blue Dot]

36. Sorry, Grace.

At 36 I separated from my (now ex) wife and moved back in with my parents. Oh, my job was at best mediocre and I dated a Republican. It was, by far, the worst year of my life.

37, however, was the best year of my life, starting with a cathartic trip to the Grand Canyon, and ending with asking the love of my life to marry me.

So what I'm saying is, hang in there. You never know when things are going to change.

:hi:

[catzies]

38. When I was 36 I bought myself a house - the one I saw on my birthday

And it was something I thought would never happen to me.

It was literally my birthday because the agent saw the balloon bouquet stuffed into my car.

[reyd reid reed]

39. I had my last baby

Only six days before my 36th birthday. Can't imagine my life without him. Plus, of the bunch of 'em, he's the only one who has blue eyes.

Happy birthday, Grace!!

[Rowdyboy]

40. On my 36th birthday (February 21, 1990), I had just settled into my life

with my partner. We'd been seeing each other for 11 months, and I moved in with him a few months before. I was scared, unsure if it would last, but confident. Sixteen years plus later we're still kicking ass!

Life is good. Hope yours is too. Happy Birthday!!!

[LouisianaLiberal]

41. OK, here's what you should do.

Take a month off, and drive to unusual places in a convertable with a crazy woman. Or I guess in your case it should be a crazy man.

I no longer have the car or the woman, but I'll never forget that month of my 36th year. Do something memorable.

No David Lynch or Thelma and Louis jokes please.

[LibDemAlways]

42. At 36 I was into my 3rd year as a travel agent after

kissing teaching good-bye. I took advantage of all the perks offered back then and travelled extensively. However, my life took a big turn in another direction when I had my one and only child four years later at age 40. You never know what the future will bring. Enjoy the present and live each moment to the fullest. Happy birthday!

[Hissyspit]

43. I turned 36 in 1998. I don't remember anything that happened in 1998

or 1999. Does anybody?

Happy Birthday!

[clyrc]

44. Happy Birthday!

I turned 36 in January, and so far it's been a lot of anticipation but very little cake. I have hope, though! The rest of the year could potentially be good!

[Heidi]

45. It's when the best part of my life began.

Two weeks before my 36th birthday, I left mainstream journalism for good, began took a long cross-country car trip, spent two weeks on Key West, and then took a writing sabbatical in Europe, where I met one of the coolest men on the planet, started painting, and later married this same one-of-the-coolest-men-on-the-planet. :)

You've only just begun, gf. Happy birthday! :party: :pals: :thumbsup:

[GirlinContempt]

46. Happy Birthday!

[JVS]

47. My hair all fell out and my genitals withered. Happy birthday!

;-)

[neweurope]

48. At 36 I bought my horse and the ten best years of my life began!

I looked better than ever before, made new friends, got a leading position at my newspaper.... It was great! Happy birthday!

-------------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[NMMNG]

49. Happy Birthday Grace

:party: :woohoo: :party: :bounce: :party:


But I'm afraid I can't think of anything wonderful that happened to me at 36. :shrug: Hopefully you'll have a better experience than I had. :hug:

[hfojvt]

50. when I was 36

it was a very bad year
it was a very bad year
for leaving town
and moving to Iowa
it was a huge mistake
that I did make
when I was 36.

Happy birthday :party:

[KitchenWitch]

51. My husband and I got married when I was 36

[Midlodemocrat]

52. I got pregnant with my beautiful baby doll at 36.

She is still an unbelievable joy.

[LaurenG]

53. Ok

I had been married and had children for several years but my life was just getting started. My whole world changed within the year after my 36th birthday and it was all good! Happy almost Birthday!:party: :toast: :bounce:

[SoCalDem]

54. When I was 36

I had a 12 yr old, an 8 yr old and a 7 yr old (all boys)

I had not yet gone back to work, so times were pretty copacetic around here.. Lots of cooking, baking and carting kids around..

I think I was still slim then too :cry:

ahhh the good old days :)

This is for You:

[swimboy]

55. Went on a two-week trip to Italy with a rail pass and a knapsack

It was a fantastic trip, we went as far south as Pompeii and Sorrento and as far north as Trentino in the Dolomites, by accident, trying to take the overnight train from Rome to Venice.

[slackmaster]

57. My marriage started to fall apart

:argh:

It got better. At 40 I got divorced.

[NewWaveChick1981]

58. Happy Birthday, Grace0418!

I'm 42 (43 in two weeks), and when I was 36, I had just started a really good job. I stayed there for seven years, and it was good. :)

All the best! :D Oh, and when you hear people say that life begins at 40, they mean it---it's great! I know that personally I'm much more self-confident and self-aware than I was at 20, and it's really good.

[swag]

59. Moved into my new house, left the worst job I ever had,

started planning my first trip to Spain.

Best to you.

[bikebloke]

60. Moved to Seattle 14 years ago.

Boy was that a mistake. I had spent a year travelling with my bike, hoping to find a way to stay in New Zealand legally. Then I tried Aussie for a few months. As a last ditch effort, I gave Europe a go. On my return to the DC area, there wasn't much in prospects. I'd read Seattle had opportunities and affordable housing. Turns out they were just luring folk in to drop wages and cash in on housing. It took seven years, working shit jobs, pulling the slack of local royalty (nepots and cronies) before I had the money to get away.

So 36 was auspicious for me.

Happy New Lap Around the Sun!

[taterguy]

61. I hiked the Grand Canyon

One of the best things I ever did for myself. The scenery was spectacular and it was nice to know that my body could still function at a high level. I made it from the South Rim to the Colorado River and back in 11 hours, 18 miles. Highly recommended, despite all the warning signs saying you're not supposed to attempt that hike in one day. Details of the trip are available upon request.

[Rob H.]

62. Happy Birthday!

Two months before my 36th birthday I moved back to Tennessee after nine years in Idaho--they weren't disastrous per se, but I had two of the worst jobs I've ever had while I was there. Now I have a job that I enjoy, and I'm within driving distance of family and long-time friends again. :)

[Jack Rabbit]

63. It was not a particularly remarkable year

I turned 36 on November 3, 1987. On the impersonal front, the ensuing year was dominated by presidential politics. I was looking forward to somebody -- anybody -- succeeding Ronald Reagan in the White House on the belief, disproved by more recent events, that no one could be a worse president than Reagan. Around the time I turned 37, the elder Bush defeated Dukasis, making him the only member of the Bush family to win a free and fair presidential election.

It was an uneventful year for me personally.

I worked for EDS and hated my job. General Motors had bought the company from Perot a few years earlier and its soulless corporate culture was beginning to make itself felt. Like most modern American supercorporations, GM likes to put idiots with MBAs in positions of responsibility. For many years, I thought all MBAs were idiots, but later found out that was not true; only the ones who make a point of telling everybody else that they have an MBA are idiots. For some reason, they are the ones who get promoted after demonstrating their incompetence at grunt work and then prove no better at making business decisions. Although I came to realize that kissing ass was a better way to get ahead, I foolishly continued to do work of which I was proud and suggested ways the product could be made better, which was almost always ignored. I have since moved on and discovered that the problems with GM/EDS are symptomatic of a disease best called corporate elephantitis, of which most large corporations are infected.

The commute time and the time at work took away from watching my two sons grow. When I was 36, they turned eight and five. My most precious moments that year were reading to them in the evening from books we would pick out together at the public library. The older one was fascinated with dinosaurs and butterflies. The younger one liked fast, loud cars. The younger one suffered from asthma and now and then kept us up nights with labored breathing. Over the years, his asthma dissipated and he felt confident enough in his breathing to take up smoking when he was 15. It was entirely a peer group thing; neither I nor his mother smoke. Their mother made demands on the older one to excel. Today, the older one seldom talks to me and completely avoids his mother. The younger one still lives at home with me and his stepmother.

The woman I married nine years earlier began to sour on our relationship. It would take another eleven years of slow torture for both of us before the marriage was finally dissolved. We bought an old house the year before and my incompetence at handy work showed in my handling of needed repairs. She had a terrible temper and let me know how incompetent I was in no uncertain terms, although I didn't need her to tell me that. Also, we took up ballroom dancing, but soon discovered to her dismay that I was born with two left feet. This, in her eyes, was a major character flaw. She let me know that my inability to consistently execute a perfect box step indicated that I was responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal, the Vietnam War and the assassination of President Kennedy. I have a tendency to stay in relationships, both personal and professional, longer than I should.

My advice to someone in his mid thirties is to savor precious moments and try not to take seriously the disasters that fall on one's life. One should take neither his own faults too seriously nor those of others. Those who dwell too long on the faults of another and probably just attempting to minimize their own shortcomings. Such people are best avoided.

[RetroLounge]

64. At 36 I married my one true love...

RL

[dpbrown]

65. I turned 36 in 1995

During that year (before turning 36) I lived for a short time in the house my grandfather built on 10 acres of his former truck farm, and I restrung his fences that hadn't been touched in 40 years. It put me in touch with a man who died when I was only 2. Later that year, I went on to get admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin - something that gave me a sense of accomplishment in my home state.

This is a very good age. Savor it.


:toast:

[Orangepeel]

66. I was 36 when I got married

so that was awesome for me.

Happy Birthday!

[StaggerLee]

67. Well I'm 38 now

I'm in better shape in my 30's than I've ever been in my life.

The body is an amazing thing. Take care of it and it'll take care of you.

Happy Birthday!

:hi:

[grace0418]

68. **OH MY! THANK YOU SO MUCH**

The response you've all given me has been really overwhelming. I'm speechless. I cannot begin to thank you all enough for giving me a fresh perspective today in addition to your lovely birthday wishes. You have no idea what you have all done for me. I'm a bit embarassed because I didn't mean to sound like I was fishing for birthday wishes, I just needed some general encouragement. But the birthday wishes were an added bonus that I so appreciate, the icing on the cake so to speak!

I started thanking each of you individually but I realized I'd never make it through the whole list before my 37th birthday. :) But seriously, I've read each and every post multiple times and I am so touched and honored and heartened by your stories. I encourage all of you to read everyone's post. It's something I will read again and again whenever I need a pick-me-up.

And to those of you who shared your sad times with me, I appreciate your candor as well. I hope that you're all in better places now. I hope we're all in a better place once the cancer in our government has been properly treated. SOON, I hope.

Until then, my friends, I heartily thank you for making my birthday so special. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

xo
Grace
:hug:

[NewJeffCT]

69. You are welcome

And, happy birthday. :toast:

Unfortunately, it's been all downhill since 36 for me.
:shrug:

[rwinkler]

70. Met my mate

I met the man I'm married to now 16 years earlier.

[mdmc]

71. happy birthday

:hi:

I'm 34, so no info on good times ahead.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

72. My baby girl was born. -nt

[KamaAina]

73. I finally moved to Hawai'i

three months after my 36th birthday, after obsessing on the place for three or four years (listening to Hawaiian music, speaking really bad Pidgin to Mom, even joining a group of mostly Hawai'i expats in NYC!)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

74. I resigned my comission and got out of the U.S. military, right around

that time. Just ahead of shrubco and their wars.

I had most of the important experiences of my life and career during my military career, and most of my closest friendships.

But I'm sure glad not to be part of neocon madness right now.

[kiraboo]

75. When I was thirty-six, I became pregnant with my third child.

It was a huge shock, because my husband was scheduled for a vasectomy two weeks from the day I found out. I felt SO OLD! But I wasn't!

[hatredisnotavalue]

76. Happy birthday Grace.....!!!!

I turned 36...12 years ago. I really don't remember much of my birthday. That was the year that both kids were both in school. I know I still had my looks and was pretty proud of what I had accomplished in my life.
My better birthday was 45, when I decided I didn't give a shit about what other people thought of me and became a bit of a free spirit. I liked my 40's, but I am really looking forward to my 50's. The kids will be gone and it will be just me and the husband and the same kind of dog we had when we first met.

If you want to do something memorable...call up the most expensive hairdresser in your area and get the full monty, dye job and cut. Then go to the make-up counter of your best department store and get a full make over. Go buy a new outfit and then go home, get a bottle of wine and wind up the stereo. That's what I would do if it was my birthday. I would celebrate it all by myself, but looking fierce!

[Lisa]

77. well, I defended my PhD the week before I turned 36 ...

So my actual birthday is a blur, since I was frantically trying to submit my corrections before the end of term.

But being addressed as "Dr. Lisa" in the hall kind of makes up for it!