A happy day

Today has been a good day. Make that a great day. It's my 30th birthday. My sweet friend Norma treated Turner and me to a yummy lunch, and then she came over tonight to play with Turner while my sweet hubby took me to a nice birthday dinner. This afternoon while Turner napped I made a few hairbows and some new pants for Turner. All in all a lazy summer day filled with good food, great friends, and my precious family. A girl couldn't ask for more.

I have been asked whether I feel "old" - and the answer is a big NO. I honestly don't feel any different than I did yesterday. I didn't dread this birthday and it hasn't bothered me at all really. My Mom reminded me today that my Granny said that her 30's were the best years of her life - Mom also reminded me of the power in this statement since at age 28 my Granny lost her son and at age 32 lost her husband. Hard to imagine how those could be your "best" years! But I know how she thought, and there were so many blessings that outweighed the bad memories...and she chose moment by moment to LIVE her life well. That's why they were the "best" years. I so hope that I can be that same way. I really feel like each year of my life has gotten better and better -I don't want to go back to any past stage . I love my life NOW, and I think that's a blessing.

I want to give a shout out to two special people. First, my friend Brooke and I share the same birthday - Happy Birthday to you!! We miss you here in AU! Second, to my college buddy Elizabeth. Since I have known her (that would be freshman year at AU 1997) she has NEVER forgotten my birthday and has acknowledged it every year with a phone call or email. We may not have spoken for months at the time, but she always makes sure to let me know she's thinking of me on that day. That is so special to me.

Now, for a story that may not be as funny to my readers as it was to me and Mark...but we'll give it a shot. Tonight we ate at a local Italian restaurant in town called Provino's. By most standards it's a very nice restaurant, a dress a little nicer than usual and you feel like you are on a "real date" kind of place. We ordered two delicious pasta dishes and after the cook staff delivered them to the table and walked off Mark commented on whether he was supposed to have offered us fresh Parmesan and fresh cracked pepper as they had in the past. We decided that perhaps our waitress would do that, so next time she checked in on us we asked. This is what was delivered to our table.



Absolutely in unison Mark and I looked at each other and said, "Where are we, Pizza Hut??!" And then we completely cracked up. Mark noticed they were even bent on the stainless steel tops like they always were at Pizza Hut! I mean really, folks, what happened to the block of Parmesan being brought to the table and shaved off fresh onto your food? Or the pepper mill? Oh no! We got some Pizza Hut SHAKERS people! Hilarious.

Such a wonderful day today. Thank you Lord for 30 blessed years.