Happy Birthday to me, so long 33

Wednesday, I celebrated my 34th birthday... wow, when did I get so old? I am officially in my MID - THIRTIES!! I awoke to coffee in bed and a green tonka truck rolling up and down my legs while the sound of "vroom... vroom" hummed sweetly in my ear.

When Jimmy asked me what I wanted to do for my special day, I mulled over... sleeping late, laying by the pool with my People magazine, a shopping spree at the mall, a big night out on the town and finally decided on... going to see the choo-choo trains!

If someone had told my 5 years ago that that is what I would have wanted to do on my birthday, I would have thought they were crazy. Isn't it funny how things change? A day with my boys at a place I had no doubt would bring sheer joy and excitement to my little guy's face sounded like the perfect day. So off we headed to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
Oops, somebody can't read!
For an hour, this was pretty much the scene. Trace running up and down the aisle between the trains, while I followed behind. Seems like I do that a lot lately. I used to gawk in horror at the women in the mall that had their children on leashes... oh yeah, I'm there!

That night, our families met at my in-laws for my birthday dinner. We were going to go across the lake and eat at Dockside. However, the heavens picked my birthday to let loose, so plans quickly changed and we drove (by car, not boat) to eat. It was still a lot of fun and I love getting to spend time with my peeps!
This was the rainbow that came over the lake after the storm. We could actually see where it began and ended on the water. It was beautiful. I love the lake right after a storm!
After dinner, we came back for a wonderful ice cream cake and gifts. It was the perfect birthday from start to finish.

A couple of days ago, some friends of mine that I've known for 15+ years got together for dinner. I always love dinner with my girlfriends. Funny how over the course of our friendship, the subjects of our conversations have drastically changed.

For instance, 15 years ago the talk around the table would have been about the latest scandal at the sorority house (whoo hoo ADPi), who was dating who (or is that who was dating whom??), what new clothes we just bought (with our meazly part time job money) and probably making big plans for the weekend.

Fast forward 15 years... our topics of conversation the other night centered around Weight Watchers, coupon clipping, treatments for brown spots on the face (sadly, I have already made my first appointment) and rating the areas best and worst elementary schools.

Oh... I forgot, we did briefly touch on the Jon and Kate + 8 scandal, if that counts!

But you know, after all these years, I LOVE that the friends I had then, are the friends I have now, and will have when we are old and wrinkly, discussing Depends and Social Security.

I feel blessed to live all of life's seasons with them. Thank you to everyone who made my day so special!