Another Year Older and Deeper In Debt

12:12 PM tomorrow marks the anniversary of the day... the music died? They drove old Dixie down? No, those aren't right. Oh, yeah!, my birth, twenty [some-odd] years ago. I have decided that I will forgo birthdays after 29, and just wait to turn 30 until I get married and start having children. Being single is perfecly acceptable, even applauded, in your twenties. But I have this deep fear that the moment I turn 30, people will start thinking, 'Seriously, what is WRONG with her? Will nobody ever marry that poor, pathetic creature?' Maybe somewhere in the deep recesses of my subconcious, my paranoia is based upon... ah, forget it. I'll save the brilliant epiphanies for therapy.

So this birthday finds me living in a tiny apartment with a great roomate, with whom I sit up night after night having deep discussions about life, love, politics,and religion. I have the smartest, sweetest, most spastic little flea-bag of a dog you could ever imagine. (If his Frontline doesn't get here soon, I'm going to get RUDE with Pet Vax.) I have a dented, messy little car that gets me from A to B. I'm working two jobs to get me through this crazy economic crunch. My wallet is empty of cash, but it's got a health insurance card, which ensures(get it?) good health, and a voter registration card to remind me to hold out hope that things will get better. (No, friends, I haven't gone all Midtown Democrat, but I AM ready to have someone else in the White House!) I have wonderful friends who for some crazy reason put up with me. I have a church family that I love dearly, and a class of four girls (give or take a visitor) that never fails to put a smile on my face and gets my Sundays off on the right foot. And of course, my family, who... well, even a self-proclaimed wordsmith like me can't figure out a way to describe what they mean to me.

All in all, not too shabby. I face this birthday with a sense of eagerness about what the rest of my twenties holds in store. And then- well, who knows? Maybe I'll decide that thirty isn't so scary after all...