One more year

Tomorrow is my birthday.

Born in 1971, that makes me...35!

I've been dwelling on it a little. I'm not sure what to make of this birthday. I'm feeling kind of sad about it, for sure. It seems like I just turned 30, and the last 5 years went so fast. I had two children in that time, so I had no time to savor the last 5 years. It is just a pure whirlwind!

I know all the other mothers out there know what I'm talking about.

I sat with my own mother at lunch today. She is 57. She looked older this time for some reason. I saw her over the holidays, and didn't notice. Before that I hadn't seen her in a while. Maybe it is me. Maybe I am projecting my age depression on everything I see. I just know that I am glad I stopped smoking, because she still does and it ain't pretty.

But, while I was wallowing in self pity this afternoon, my good friend Sarah who I sit next to every working day let me in on an email she had received from an old friend. The email was a tribute to a friend of theirs who had been in an accident with a logging truck (those of you who are from the logging country know that nothing good can come from a bad meeting with a logging truck) and died at the age of 19. She was a local softball phenom and had everything going for her. That was 9 years ago and there is still a memorial out on the road where she died. So sad. Makes me glad for that one more year.

By the way, I got my first "Over The Hill" balloon today. Bum-mer.