I'm 30 Now

I’m 30 years old now. Whoa!

Wednesday was my birthday. It was an incredible day. It started with breakfast at Panera with April and Chrissie. This year they overdid the generosity with gifts. April gave me an old and way cool copy of The Call of the Wild. Chrissie gave me a tee shirt that says “Seriously? Seriously?” I didn’t realize how often I said that word until I got the shirt. They both gave me a new camera. I was and am still blown away by that gift.

Right away I started playing with it. It takes videos too. My first video victim...or rather my first model was April. She was thrilled that I was videoing her while she was eating. The second is Chris. I took this one while we were blowing time in Barnes and Noble after breakfast.

After breakfast and B&N, I went to the office. I had a decent time there. Mom and dad sent a beautiful arrangement of cut flowers. It had Gerber daisies and lilies. Both are among my favorites. After my office hours I quickly did my cleaning for the elementary hallway then sped to the book discussion that Heather and Suzanne and I do. After we were done talking about the assigned chapters we had a little celebration. Heather provided cake, Suz brought ice-cream. We had fun.

Thursday was a great day too. I watched Evie in the afternoon. She was really well behaved and she was actually awake for most of the time I was there. We played for quite a while. After that I did my cleaning at the school again.

Friday was another good day even though it was all work and no play. Saturday was great too. I started off at mom and dad’s house for breakfast. Breakfast ended up being really quick since I ended up not having as much time as I thought. I was planning on attending the Sarah Palin rally with Daniel, Jodi, their kids, and mom and dad. After I got to the parent’s house I discovered that we needed to leave about an hour and a half before I thought we would. I wanted to get my cleaning done for the Tarbell Company so I left before breakfast was ready.

When we got to Hyvee Hall for the rally we discovered that there weren’t any chairs. Standing for three hours was a bit painful, but it was worth it. As usual the kids were...active. Before the rally actually started Senator Chuck Grassley was walking through the crowd shaking hands. Of course I had my new camera with me so when Carson ran after the Senator to shake his hand I ran after him to take their picture. The Senator was gracious enough to stop for a photo, but since I wasn’t fully used to using the camera I didn’t get the lens zoomed out quickly enough and ended up getting a photo of the Grassley’s chest and Carson’s forehead. The Senator’s aid realized that I didn’t get a good picture so she chased him down and asked him to come back. Again he was gracious enough to pose. While posing he pointed out that the flash had gone off so he assumed that I had my picture. I explained that I had messed up the zoom and the people who had been watching all started laughing. It was hilarious.

After the rally the entire family, all 19 of us headed to the Machine Shed for dinner. I think the last time I was there was for my birthday a couple years earlier. The food there is way too good and way too unhealthy. I got a piece of birthday pie and only turned one shade of red while the servers sang to me. Then the family all headed back to mom and dad’s for cake and ice-cream. Almost a week later I’m still full.

20 something no more...

Today is my last day in my 20s. It is hard to believe that tomorrow I turn 30; I still feel like I should be 12. I almost feel like I need to offer advice to the youth of the world since I am joining the group of the more seasoned. So here is a bit of "wisdom" for all those youthful individuals who are remaining in their 20s while I press on into a new phase of life.

1. Don't wish for neices and nephews...once they start, your siblings may not stop having kids. This will change your financial status greatly. Christmas will no longer be a time of shopping for bargans to enhance your own wardrobe but will become a time of bargain hunting for the latest and greatest toys...which will all break the day after Christmas.

2. You thought that the early 20s were rough because of all the life changes...this doesn't stop once you hit 30 (or get really close to hitting 30). The changes are just accompanied by more physical aches and pains. Seriously...my feet kill and I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up."

3. Parents really do age.

4. Friendships are harder to form, but the friendships are more rewarding.

5. Age really does make it harder to remember things.

6. Independence is great.

7. Independence is scary.

8. The memory goes down the drain.

9. Did I mention that my back hurts too?

10. Everything you thought you had figured out when you were 20, you should forget...you were probably wrong.