Only the 4th time my birthday and Thanksgiving are on the same day!

Today is my 22nd birthday…DAMN.

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my mom and dad. They were getting ready to go to bed and I was getting ready to start my day. They usually call me at night, so I was expecting them to call me later on during the day. But, I didn’t mind that they woke me up to say happy birthday. I miss them a lot and hearing them on my birthday made me feel a little better.

It’s a strange feeling waking up on your birthday and being alone. I’m used to being at home, in my warm, comfortable bed and having my mom walk in to wake me with a hug and a kiss. This year, I woke up to the phone ringing, a little cold, and all alone in my studio in France. I know that I never imagined I would be in France for my 22nd.

But, it’s not the first time that I am not and home and missing both my birthday with family and Thanksgiving. The last birthday I spent in Europe was in 2007 – when I turned 20. I was studying in Siena, Italy. I celebrated my birthday there and then spent Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. What a trip! No pun intended ;)

22. I still can’t get over the fact that I am that old. I don’t feel any different from the way I did a few years ago and sometimes I wonder if I should start paying attention to more things. I mean, I’m 22 and still have no idea what I want to do in life. I have some ideas, but I can’t make up my mind. Right now, I’m just living day to day, enjoying my time in France, and trying to make the most of my experience. But, I know that once this is over I have to get going! I have the option of staying another year, but I don’t know how good of a decision that would be.

Anyways, on a less depressing note, Thanksgiving is today too! The last time that this happened was 11 years ago! I was a little bored and excited that my birthday was on the same day as Thanksgiving that I looked at the dates from previous years to see what the pattern was. Turns out that my birthday will be on Thanksgiving every 6-5-6-11 years! Meaning, in 1987, I was born on Thanksgiving and the 2nd time my birthday was on that same day was in 1992 (5 years later). The 3rd time happened in 1998 (6 years later), and then for the 4th time this year – 11 years later! Thanksgiving will fall on my birthday again in 6 years – 2015. Crazy!…and now, I feel a little pathetic.

I don’t have any big plans to celebrate. I’m going to start mashing some potatoes that I boiled for tonight. Erin, an assistant from Boston, invited me and some other assistants to go to her apartment to have a Thanksgiving dinner. We are all pitching in for the turkey, which she was able to order from a butcher, and we all signed up to bring something to eat. I figured that there was no way I could mess up mashed potatoes. I just hope that I didn’t jinx myself.

It’s strange that I have to go to work on Thanksgiving, but it’s only for 2 hours. After class, I just have to come back home and pick up the mashed potatoes and then head over to the train station to get to Lyon. Guillaume is letting me stay at his place tonight so that I don’t have to worry about catching the last train back to Villefranche.

Happy Thanksgiving!