21 today :)

Sometime round 3:00pm this arvie I entered my twenty-first year of life.

Twenty-One years of been Helen Thura Palsson or Helen Þura Pálsdóttir depending on where you are in the world.
Twenty-One years of been the littlest sister to Karl, Anika, Herdis, Hafthor, Toti and Palli.
Nineteen and a half years of being the older sister to Matthew.
Almost at the end of seventeen years of schooling.
Three trips overseas.
Countless km’s spent on foot, bike, canoe or car exploring this Great Southern Land.
Friends made, friends lost and friends re-united.
At least one computer around for almost as long as I can remember.
Close to eleven years of orthodontics.
Four different musical instruments.
One broken arm, two broken toes, torn ligaments in my fingers and my ankle.
Countless trips to the library.
Four different jobs.
Three cameras of my own.
And countless other little bits and pieces that make me who I am.

I went to work as usual at 5am this morning and had the most delightful shift. When I rang the bell to be let in I was greeted with a big “Happy Birthday” from my closest friend at work so that was very nice and then as I moved through the store getting ready for work more people came up and wished me a good day. Then about 7:30am (30mins before the store opened) my line manager put a message over the PA system telling everyone it was my birthday and they should find me and wish me Happy Birthday.

Every Monday a lot of people start work at 5am, whereas on other days they would start between 7am and 9am, this is because of all the things that need to be done to set the shop for a new week of trading; display ends need to be built and tickets need to be changed (that is what I do). Because of this every Monday a group of us have morning tea together and we have a little roster set up so we all take turns brining in something to share. One of the other girls who I am also close to had her turn today so she made me a white chocolate mud cake with Happy 21st Helen on it as well as 22 little tiny cupcakes that spelt out Happy 21st Birthday Helen, it was so very nice! There was of course singing and chatting and people trying to remember how the tune to Happy Birthday Helen goes.

Yep, there is a song by the pretty classy Australian rock band Things of Stone and Wood called Happy Birthday Helen and every Aussie worth their salt knows the song. Of course the lyrics may not be totally relevant to my life but still it is Happy Birthday Helen.

Happy Birthday Helen
Things of Stone and Wood
[audio:Things of Stone and Wood – Happy birthday Helen.mp3]

Let’s not forget last night
Yeah, how we drove along the Yarra
How we sang harmonies
To Carole King

These three years now just gone
They are the legends of my mind
We both kneel at these rocks
To drink of the mem’ry

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

We kissed on that bridge that fell down
While we held hands at the Taj
We’ve been stuck in a cave
With that bloke who says Oi Am

And when I cried for my cruel heart
You rubbed my back ’til I felt better
We ate bread on the lake
And yearned for the seasons

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

You are the storm on the ocean, poems in the trees
The smell of the winter that haunts me each autumn
You’re my everything
You are my everything
You are my everything
Happy Birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Shake

Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Happy birthday Helen

Tonight for dinner I made Roast Chicken with Sultana and Almond Cous Cous (from the Claudia Roden book) and Mum made Mulberry Crumble with the Mulberries I picked at the farm yesterday on our way home from having a birthday afternoon tea with Grandad. It was all just so very nice!