Happy Birthday to Me

Well, I turned 36 yesterday. Holy moly. I swear I cannot be that old. Of course, I’m not as old as Sean so that’s something…

The kids got me a great new CD. It’s a compilation of lots of worship songs from the past year. I know most of the songs; I’ve never heard of most of the singers. They’re probably 20 year old young things with great teeth and perky boobs.

And let me tell you, perky boobs are definitely a thing of the past for me. I need industrial strength bras right now just to keep the girls up. I swear by the time I turn 40 I’ll have to make a bra out of duct tape.

Anyway, Sean gave me a night away for the two of us, something we haven’t had since we moved away from the grandparents. My mom is going to come up one weekend in May to watch the kids for us.

He’s taking me to a local B&B that’s supposed to be very nice. What he failed to tell me is that it’s on a llama farm. I found that out when I went online to see pictures of the inn. The home page says a stay at the B&B isn’t complete without a stroll through the llama fields. And apparently some folks stay at the inn just to learn more about llamas; the inn offers “a free introductory class in llama care”! And guess what else?! “If the weather is right, the trails are groomed and the innkeepers are available, you may also have the opportunity to go on a hike through the woods with a llama!”

So we’ve gone from at least trying to go to hip places to a llama farm. I honestly have no words. And that’s saying something.

Then last night our friends and their two precious girls came over to have dinner. I cooked a very simple meal, but I made Sean leave the chicken on the grill too long so it was dry – grilling chicken is a very dicey situation. I want the chicken to be cooked enough to kill the salmonella but not cooked so much that it’s dry. At least last night I know the salmonella was dead.

Our friends gave me a new book, one I was going to get for myself. Yeah! And they brought a really good ice cream cake. Of course, my friend Molly thought it would be funny to actually put 36 candles on the cake (what a kidder…) so I’m surprised the cake didn’t melt. When Rebecca bent over the cake to help me blow out the candles, her eyebrows were singed. No lie.

We had a fun dinner; it’s not that often that couples click, but we do. Sean and Michael took Sean’s new company car out for a spin while Molly and I, in-between comforting their four-month-old and refereeing the big kids, tried to plan a little trip for us to take in June.

So I’m now 36 years and one day old. I live in Michigan. My knees crack when I go upstairs. My hair is really turning grey. I’ve had to start taking a daily prescription, one I’ll have to take the rest of my life. In some ways I feel like I am falling apart.

But there’s another sense that I might finally be getting a bit wiser. I feel like I have something to offer younger women. I (occasionally) feel like I’m in a good grove with homeschooling. Sean and I are over the awkward, early years of marriage and we’re hitting our stride… I think the best is definitely yet to come.

And I bet these two old folks will enjoy our leisurely stroll through the llama fields.