35

Today, I turned 35. How can it be that I am halfway to 70 already? It seems like I was just:

* turning 13 and sneaking out the basement door around midnight with a group of giggling girls at my slumber party

* turning 16 and wondering why that black corvett wasn't in the driveway (ha...I was seriously delusional back then, but there was this fabulous, repossessed black corvett that sat at the bank near my house. I passed it every day until the week before my birthday, when it was gone. I was SURE that my parents had bought it for me. Did I mention that I was delusional?)

*turning 17 and going to my first "late" movie (I grew up in a small town...I was a little sheltered)

*turning 23 and dreaming about engagement rings and weddings and a future with Steve

*turning 29 and starting my first IVF cycle.

*turning 32 and knowing that we would become a family of four in just a few weeks.

It's crazy how quickly the years go, but what a blessing it is to share my life with such wonderful people. Tonight, I got phone calls from my friends who sang (poorly, I might add) on the answering machine, and messages from many, many friends on facebook. I woke up to cards and flowers and donuts, from Steve and the girls. I got to hang out in my PJs until 2 p.m., make crafts with the girls, eat cake for lunch, and take a short nap. I went to dinner with my family, laughed as I wore a foam, 10-gallon hat, and returned home to eat more cake.

In 35 years, I have learned to treasure simple things:
friends who remember you and sing (no matter how bad they sound...and let me tell you, they sound bad); glazed donuts; a husband who calls three times during the day, to make sure I'm having a wonderful birthday; a little girl who really wanted to take me to the "bouncy place" for my birthday because (in her words) I love it soooo much; eating the cherry off my ice cream sundae, because it's my birthday and I don't have to share it with anyone; imperfect flowers arranged just for me by my husband; knowing that I still have two more birthday parties in the coming days to celebrate my official entrance into "mid life" (and friends and family who are sure to tease me endlessly about it).

Mostly, I treasure the feeling of being loved. There are many, many things that I have yet to do or accomplish or become. But there's time, right? For now, I feel happy (and fat from the donuts and cake and ice cream). Mostly, I feel loved.