UPDATE Oct 10th: Patricia P was the randomly selected winner of the gift card giveaway – thanks to everyone for the terrific comments!!!

Yesterday was my birthday – had cake and fun times – so I thought today was the perfect day for this post – Twelve Things I’ve Stopped Waiting For:

1. That one last upward growth spurt my Mother promised me – been waiting for that since I was twelve. Yup, still 5’2 ½”…I think that’s the final number, Mom.

2. Winning the Publishers’ Clearinghouse contest…never gonna hear the doorbell ring and be greeted by a check bigger than the door.

3. Developing a green thumb (for anything other than roses and iris, which curiously I can grow) – I can even kill cacti!

4. Being informed I’m actually a princess of some ruling house in Europe and Next In Line for the Throne. Apparently not.

5. Or, being informed I’m actually a princess of some alien civilization and…well, you can probably fill in the blanks here.

6. Walking past a TV or movie film site at just the right moment and being exactly what they need  to play the role that the famous actress failed to show up for that day. (Is there an Oscar in my future LOL?)

7. Somewhat related – “meeting cute” with that People’s Sexiest Man (any year, I’m not too picky on this one!), who falls madly, immediately (and permanently) in love and sweeps me away.

8. Discovering time travel and going back to see dinosaurs from a safe distance. (IS there a safe distance when it comes to dino watching?)

9. Having Tim Gunn admonish me to Make It Work while he restyles my wardrobe. (What could he do with a closet full of Ross Dress for Less and Maxxonista dresses???)

10. Being the first woman on Mars…

11. Waltzing with the Duke of ______ and becoming the next Duchess, wowing them at Almack’s on a regular basis…(this one kinda depends on that time travel invention again)

12. Being kidnapped by a sexy Alpha Shifter because I’m his immortal Mate…

I could go on, but this is probably a good list. I have checked off some items – children, a grandson, becoming a published author (thank you Carina Press, for your faith in me!), career at the day job, good friends, excellent memories (I don’t bother to hang onto the bad memories too much)….

I do see a kind of theme in the above list though – most of them lend themselves to becoming plots or subplots in a romance, so it’s lucky I’m an author. If you can’t live it yourself (ME? I’m the next Queen of Intergalactic Space?), you can always write about it….except for the height thing, but hey, that’s why the high heel was invented, right?

What have you stopped waiting for? I’ll give a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly selected commenter in honor of my birthday!