Birthday reflections

Ahh, another birthday down and I've finally caught up to my friends who have been 33 for awhile now. :-) This one was not a big deal. Emmett said he kind of struggled with 33 because it sort of marks that transition between early 30's and mid 30's but for me it's just not that big of a deal. I think for me it has a lot more to do with where I am in life when these birthdays hit. Right now I feel pretty good about what's happening and where our future lies. I'm finally (at long last) getting my financial picture together. It's going to be a long haul and will take a long time, but I finally feel that I'm definitely on the right track since all of my bills are either paid or being paid monthly and I have a savings account that has >$10 in it haha. As I said, it will be a long recovery both from the feeling in my 20's that I needed to live for the moment and squeeze everything out of it (something I must admit I do not regret all that much) and the year off work for both Emmett and I when Tommy was born that so depleted our resources.

Anyway, I am now officially 33 years old. I can remember turning 22 right after I started working and POH and saying that I was still 21 - that after 21 I didn't need to have anymore birthdays. It is scary getting older and knowing that you can't go back and be young and youthful again or go back and do anything differently, etc. But it's nice to have 33 years of life experiences. I look at the first 2 1/2 years that I was in California and it was such an amazing time of pain, growth, delirious freedom, exploration, new experiences, romantic pain, romantic joy...I'm so grateful for that time and all the lessons I learned. I can't imagine where I would be right now if I hadn't had the strength and determination to do that for myself. It's because of all of that that I could embrace the unexpected pregnancy with Thomas and the transition in life from 'it's all about me' to 'it's all about him' because I did have my time and I utilized it to the fullest extent. Of course, I could have done more, had more experiences, but I think it's good to have had Thomas while I was still relatively young. I'm happy with things overall. I need to find a new job before I go completely mad, but that's small potatoes compared with some of the strife that I've faced.

Yesterday was an okay day. I spent too much time on the phone and the result was that that there wasn't enough time to do the things with Thomas that I wanted to do. By the time I was done talking to all the friends and relatives it was time for Thomas's nap and by the time he woke up - er, actually I had to go upstairs and wake him up - it was 3pm. So I did take him out and we went shopping, but given that he had no real exercise in the morning, he wasn't particularly receptive to sitting in the stroller all afternoon. We went to Ross and I bought him three shirts and an outfil in size 3t since he is wearing 2t now and will soon outgrow them. From there we went and got my car washed - it was filthy! Across the street from the car wash is Jack in the Box and I treated myself to a real ice cream milkshake - yummy!! (and oh so naughty haha). After that we went to the mall and I bought some books (1 on keeping your toddler busy, it's a book of activity ideas that I desperately need for days when I'm home with Tommy, and another animal book for Thomas), then went to Gymboree and bought Thomas this really cool warm up jacket that looks like something Emmett would wear and it was on sale for only $7. I took a look around Children's Place but didn't see anything I liked. I didn't dare go into Macy's or Nordstrom for fear I WOULD see something I liked. :-) So we headed home and go there 5 minutes ahead of Emmett who was running late.

He walked in the door looking so wonderful. He always looks so hot in his business suits that I am reminded how lucky I am to have such a handsome partner. Of course, the dozen long stemmed red roses in his hand complete with baby's breath and ferns, didn't hurt matters. :-) :-) Happy birthday to me! He was too tired to barbeque which was our original plan, so the three of us went to this VERY casual restaurant called Gunters and had dinner. It was fun, an appropriate place to have Thomas and they had the Giant's game on which was also nice. The Giant's won on my birthday which made me happy. After dinner we stopped at Safeway for a few items and then went home.

At home I opened my cards and presents. Fun! We put Thomas to bed and still had a couple of hours left over to watch the last of the baseball game and talk a little bit. A good day. Pretty mellow.

Today I'm hoping to get Thomas out of the house early and take him to the Coyote Point museum. They have animal feedings at 11:30 and 12, so we will have to be pretty speedy this morning.

Well, better sign off for now. Hope everyone out there is well.

Love,
Melissa