When You Wish Upon a ...Blog.

Remember when you were a kid and it was time to blow out those birthday candles? Those little wax sticks had so much magic in them, didn't they? I remember thinking that those 8 little flames really held the powers of the universe in them. If I could just blow them all out in one breath, anything was possible. A puppy? Sure thing kid, just blow! You want a unicorn to give you a ride to school everyday? Allrighty, give me a big 'ol huff and you'll be arriving at elementary school in a blaze of rainbows and fairy dust.

And lots of other things held that magic as well. The turkey wishbone was a prize, waiting on the windowsill to "dry out" until you and your brother could stand toe to toe, in a fight for supernatural powers. If you got the bigger piece, it was gonna be a snow days for the next month. Your brother would just waste his wish on something stupid, like Transformers or a new set of Spiderman Underoos. This was a fight for the ages, you had to win!

Of course, the biggest wish granter was the elusive shooting star. If you could look up in the night sky and find one those, you were golden. Shooting stars held that mystical celestial power. You could trade places with a movie star, see the future, or make that super cute boy that sat next to you in math class fall madly in love with you. The possibilities were endless.

As I've grown up that magic has lost some of it power. I no longer even attempt to blow all the birthday candles out. That old turkey bone? Ewww.. that's unsanitary. It's hitting the trash with the rest of the leftovers. But falling stars? They still seem a little mystical, don't they? I saw one last night as I was letting our dogs outside. I have to admit, I hesitated a moment. Then, I closed my eyes tight, took a deep breath and.....nothing. I couldn't think of a single thing. For a few seconds, I considered a bigger house. But nah, that comes with a bigger mortgage payment. Win the lottery? Meh.. that'd kind of be like cheating everyone else who plays, wouldn't it? That wouldn't feel right. Lose some weight? get healthier? Yeah, but I can do that on my own, don't really need to go wasting all the powers of the universe on that kind of nonsense.

I realized I no longer need to wish for my "knight in shining armor". I've got one of those. Sure, he's not decked out in metal armor and riding a white steed... but he is wearing a nice hoodie I bought him and riding a mountain bike and I like that better anyway. (I don't have anywhere to house a horse, and the laundry is difficult enough without adding a head to toe metal ensemble.) I'm not really interested in changing places with anyone anymore. Yeah, it might be kind of fun to wake up in the morning and find myself inside the body of Angelina Jolie. A little morning romp with Brad wouldn't be so bad. But that girl's got a lot of kids and a whole lot of image to live up to. I prefer my one precious little girl and nobody's standards to live up to, but my own.

It dawned on me that I know longer need all those enchantments. I am pretty happy where I am. I opened my eyes. The star was gone, along with my childhood idea of "the world would be perfect if I could just have....". The world is pretty darn perfect the way it is.

Sorry, Brad Pitt. I could have rocked your world.