Monday, December 6, 2010

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving


30. I have been dreading this number for some time. Three decades have come and gone and now I am thirty. I reckon, (I can say words like that now) that it's really not that old in the grand scheme of things... but it sure feels old.


My actual birthday pretty much stunk... I was up all night with sick, puking, coughing kids on the eve of my birthday. The morning of my birthday, I woke up, only to find myself desperately under slept, cranky, and also sick. We were visiting family and friends in Arizona, so I put on my happy face and just tried to survive the day. Ryan had an important assignment that was due that night and he ended up working on it a lot longer than he planned... pretty much all day. The best gift of the day came around 11pm when I downed a couple NyQuil and finally got to go to bed... on an air mattress. I am not huge on birthdays, so it really wasn't a big deal... but it didn't go down as one of my favorite days.


This last weekend, my friends announced a three day belated celebration for my birthday. I don't like to be the center of attention, so I was a little embarrassed. Each day, for three days, they were going to present me with ten gifts. First thing each morning I opened ten gifts... some fun, some silly, some sentimental, all meaningful. One of the gifts each day was a letter from my hubby describing a decade of my life. The letters were so sweet and funny and usually brought me to tears.


I felt so loved and so very, very blessed... to be surrounded by such wonderful people. After tucking my kids into bed tonight it hit me how good life is. It is chaotic, we don't see as much of Ryan as we would like to, and all to often I feel like I am coasting in survival mode. But I am happy. There is so much love in my life and joy comes in little unexpected ways. I think thirty will be good.

7 comments:

Kyra said...

you make thrity look good melissa! :) sorry i was late on the celbration... but had fun watching you open the gifts. I am realy wishing i had read ryans letters now. thats super cute! and i am little offended that my letter didn't bring you to tears. j/k love you girl!

Sara said...

Happy Birthday Melissa. i was realizing as i read your post that both mine and your 30th birthdays came right after our 4th baby which was obviously a while back for me ; /. You are a beautiful 30 year old mommy and don't worry, the 30s beat the 20s by a mile! xoxo

Cherie said...

no way you are 30

Jolley's said...

SOrry your birthday day was so rotten--sounds like it was made up for though by your amazing friends!

Being 30 does feel old...I'm with ya on that one! But I think even more than the actual number making me feel old--it's the fact that I have 4 kids--one that is 9, and that's the part that makes me feel old!

Jolley's said...

I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday :)

The Cook Fam said...

I so wish that I'd been part of your 3 day birthday celebration. Sorry that I'm so out of it these days that I entirely missed your birthday. I do love you lots and am jealous for sure that you have friends around to take care of you for your 30th birthday. I'm sure it's better with good friends around (from my recent experience lacking in them). You are an AMAZING person and I am so glad to call you one of my best friends!

Nicole said...

Happy Birthday Melissa!