Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me! 26.... wow, that feels strange. I am officially no longer in my early-twenties and I have one foot in the door to being in my late twenties. Some part of that makes me sad, but I have to say, life is pretty good so I can't complain.

Its strange how quickly life passes by, and how much things can change in the course of only a few years. five years ago today I turned 21. 21. At that point in my life it was the biggest, most exciting thing to happen. I counted down the days for months before. It was THE birthday. The one that required massive amounts of celebration. The one that called for a birthday breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a birthday that my sorority sisters made me shirt that said "kiss me, it's my birthday!" and total stranger bought me drinks and my parents and sister made a special trip to phoenix to take me to dinner and shopping. Bottom line; it was the birthday to end all birthdays.

Birthdays are a funny thing. You spend your childhood anxiously awaiting them. Yearning to be year older, knowing that there will be presents and a party and it will all be for you. There is something completely magical about birthdays when your a kid. It is a day that is all about you, and all seems right in the world. Our adolescence/young adulthood is marked by three monumental birthdays: 16, 18, and 21. 16 is huge, our first foray into independence. It is a time when most kids get there drivers lisences. These days teens have a lot more rules that go along with getting a lisence at 16, such as no passengers, no driving at night, etc. Not so when I was 16. When we were handed that laminated passport to freedom all the rules changed. No more relying on mom and dad for rides, and therefore, no more having to tell them where we were all the time. You could get away with things you never could before. If you wanted to go somewhere or needed somthing you could just hop in your car and drive. My first car was a beat up 1980 honda hatchback, but I loved it because it took me where I wanted to go, which at that point was anywhere my friends were and my parent weren't.

18 was the next big one becuase it meant you were legally an adult. In all honestly, this didn't really mean much except you could buy porn and cigarettes, vote, and when you threatened your parents with moving out, you could actually follow through if you wanted to. For me, 18 meant off to college and total freedom, but it also meant paying for my own cell phone bill, car insurance and any other bills that weren't directly school related. Turns out, being an adult wasn't really all it was cracked up to be. But still, it was a big birthday.

21 really needs no explenation. Please see above to read how I spent mine five short (long?) years ago. 21 is 21. I don't know very many people that don't mark this birthday as one of the big ones.

And now I'm at that in between point. I'm not young enough to countdown the days to my birthday, or throw myself a party or even get too excited in general. But I'm also not old enough to dread my birthday, to tell people I don't want to acknowledge it. I guess I'm to the point where I just don't care too much. It's a nice day to spend with family and friends, and now, after having given birth to my son, thank my mother a little more profusely for bringin me into this world. But that's it, just another day. This year, just another Tuesday.

So, for my 26th birthday I will be going to happy hour with a few close friends and will still be home by eight. My husband will take me to dinner this weekend (sushi, yum!)and then we will cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. There will probably be some wine or beer involved, but it most certainly won't be a party. And I am so ok with that. I don't think I could go out all night even if I wanted to. That part of my life is over, and while I look back on it with fond (and sometimes blurry) memories I am happy to leave it behind.

So, happy birthday to me! Here is to 26! here is to being a fabulous woman in my mid-to-late twenties! And here is to hopefully another wondeful year!