Happy Birthday to Me! I didn’t realize my birthday fell on my blog day until I sat down to write my post. I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Anyway, so hooray to me for managing to continue aging. Better than the alternative, I suppose.This year is sort of a non-event for me. DB has to work. My mom is taking me to dinner although LS can’t understand why we’re not having a party at Chuck E. Cheese. I’ll pass, thanks. A Saturday shopping extravaganza with the Playfriends will be the highlight of this year. I didn’t ask for anything and if someone bugged me for ideas, I couldn’t help them. I’m sort of in “just another day” mode.
I guess I’m not too excited because I’m creeping towards a new decade. Not yet, but next year I’ll be 30. (I hear you all laughing, but I'm serious!) I really don’t mind being in my thirties so much as no longer being in my twenties. It isn’t as though I haven’t walked and talked like a 35 year old since I was in kindergarten. I guess it’s just the label. For a while you’re in your early twenties. Then mid twenties. Then late twenties. I guess I should be excited – most women are 29 for decades. It must be the greatest year of your life, right? I keep examining wrinkles in the mirror and watching for gray hairs. My mom's hair started turning gray right around 30. And she started needing reading glasses. And her memory started to slip. Her friends threw her a wake for her 30th birthday. Sweet, huh?
How could I possibly be as old as I remember my mom being??
I hear the sex gets better. Life is supposed to be better – less soul searching and whatnot. I’ve never been much for that anyway. You’re supposed to settle down into life. I don’t know. Aside from marriage, I’m pretty settled. I’m on my second house, almost 10 years with my company, heavily degreed...put a ring on my hand and a baby in my lap and you can’t get much more settled.
Maybe I just feel like I’ve squandered my twenties. I've never done any of the crazy, irresponsible things young people are supposed to do. I haven't gone through jobs and boyfriends like tissue. I never had a junky studio apartment with milk crate furniture. I hardly go out to clubs or bars and if I do, I'm the last one on the dance floor and the first to volunteer as designated driver. I have mortgages and bills and responsibilities. I’ve lived the life of a thirty something the whole time and now, if I try to move backwards, I’ll be one of those pathetic people who dress way too young for their age and use teen slang inappropriately. I’m moving up to the women’s section of the department store, looking back at the Misses and Teens area with longing. Purple hair and plaid Converse sneakers are no longer acceptable for me. Bean bag chairs are not comfortable or appropriate furniture.
I'm an adult. I can't deny it any longer.
What have you been in denial about lately?
SP
Circle of Five:
1 novella pending with Nocturne Bites
2 short stories and 4 short features with the Trues
16 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SP!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
We love you, SP. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Yeah, I had more trouble with 30 than I let on. It wasn't that I was turning 30 it was more like I realized I wasn't a kid anymore. Of course, I met my husband at 18, got married at 22 and had a baby at 25 so I hadn't been a kid for a long time but there's just something about 30 that makes it permanent. :-)
So what's on your wild and crazy list that you'd like to do? We still have a year to make it happen.
Instigator
Thirty was a tough one for me too, but 35 was worse. I realized I was no longer a key demographic. ::shudder::
But yes, we have a whole year to make some wild hairs happen...as long as I can get to bed early. :-)
Happy B-day!
Happy Birthday!
I was pregnant on my 30th birthday. I don't think I've ever stopped doing crazy things and I don't plan to. Just wait til RWA.
Happy Birthday! :-)
Don't dread anything. I've enjoyed every age - even though I remember looking forward with some dread and not thinking I would. The only birthday I had trouble with was 33 or 34. I was no longer in my EARLY thirties. :-) I think I was just having a bad day and it happened to fall on my birthday. Enjoy being 29. You'll enjoy being 30, too, and so on.
LJ
Yes, I remember having those exact same thoughts. I'm not in my twenties anymore. For some reason, that bothered me. But my Mom had always told me that her 30s were awesome, so I just prayed it would be so.
And it has been. Though, like you, I was never really a wild and crazy child, I feel like I've come into my own in my thirties. I'm more comfortable with myself and what I find meaningful in life. I'm past the stress of trying to have children (and onto the stress of watching them grow). :)
And, of course, I met the wonderful playfriends! They've added more wild to my life than ever. Before that, I was just a wild wannabe. ;)
Enjoy the day, SP. Tomorrow it is shopping and petit fours! Love ya!
Angel
Happy Birthday, SP!!! Great post. I think we all felt like we should have done more in our twenties. I sure did. But, I didn't mind turning 30 the way I thought. Heck, I didn't mind 40 when it happened just this past year. Because I've realized some things along the way.
I am still who I am. It doesn't change (except I think we get better with age -- smarter, make better choices). Some things don't matter as much anymore. Worried about what people think of me? Nah, not really. I just try to be a good person and let the rest happen as it might.
Yes, muscles take longer to heal and you do wake up with strange pains sometimes, but it's something you get used to. So don't sweat the last year of your twenties worrying about being 30. No one but you will notice the difference anyway. :)
Have a marvelous time tomorrow with your friends!!!!
I vaguely remember 29. It was oh... 28 birthdays ago. For some reason this year's birthday pinched a little. I realized that in 3 years I'll be s...si...sixty. That's such a round number.
#1 son turnes 30 this fall. How can I have a child that old?
And about that "wild-and-crazy" list -- just remember you're dragging a senior citizen along. Of course, you could drag me along to Ross and take advantage of my discount. ;-)
PM
Happy Birthday, SP. And to a my fellow Taurus. My birthday was May 1 and I turned 47. I think I'm getting better with age and I thank the Lord for another year. The age that bothered me is 40. I was living in an apartment, divorced and ready for house for my son and me. I was on my parents front porch promising to everyone by the following year I would be in a house. Yes by the following birthday I had moved into my current home. And after this morning, campus being on lock down, life is good. May you have a most excellent birthday.
robertsonreads
Happy Birthday SP! I turned 30 several years ago, and it didn't bother me too much. Of course, as I get closer to 40, I'm freaking out!
Buon Compleanno, Sm-arrrr-tay Pants!
I was having my 4th baby when I was 30. And I it's hard to keep saying I'm 29 when my mom claims she's still 29!
Hey! Who said I can't wear plaid sneakers and shop in the Junior's section? They've got cool stuff! Though I'm in my 40's, I still feel 19. You're only as old as you feel!!! Never forget it!
Okay, I'll have you repeat that to me when I hit 50...
Happy Birthday SP!! Hope you have a lovely birthday and a great weekend!
And I'm with Kathy - you're as young as you feel. My daughter is 16 and goes into MY closet for a cute pair of strappy heels.
I'll be 30 in about six months, but whereas you sound like you're okay with it, I am not. :( I have a husband and 3 great kids, but I feel like I still have so much more to accomplish. I've heard that the 30s are supposed to be great and I'm certainly hoping that's true. :)
Cheers to you! Hope your day and your year are WONDERFUL!! :)
Happy birthday, Smarty Pants! Hm... what am I in denial about? I dunno - maybe age? I sometimes forget/feel like I'm still 18, but I was just talking to a friend, and neither of us seem to be able to remember our ages. Haha, worrying.
Happy Birthday!!
I didn't mind 30 but I really hated 40. I think because at 33 and 36 I had kids and as you see them grow, you see yourself age. I'm 2 l/2 yrs. away from 60 and I really don't like that number lol. But as the saying goes, it's better than the alternative!!!
Happy BIRTHDAY SP!
Denial? Heck I'd deny my age in a heartbeat. Its a crying shame that my body is getting older but I don't feel that way.
I've also decided; I am not going to get older gracefully or with dignity. I may have to age, but I don't have to happy about it.
Enjoy this birthday--Celebrate for yourself; whether its getting a good book or a glass of wine (both is better) and maybe spending it with good friends, you deserve it.
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