28

Well, today is the big day. My 28th birthday....man, that sounds so much older than 27 for some reason. Just two tiny years away from 30. How on earth did that happen?

I absolutely love my birthday. I've always said it's my favorite holiday (which I realize is ridiculous). But it's just not quite the same anymore. When I was younger it was such a huge deal....I would always have lunch and dinner with friends or family, someone would make me a cake, I'd get a million presents, and I felt showered with attention. In college, if I had class that day I would typically skip it, just because it was my birthday. I could do whatever I wanted.

Now, things have changed. I can't really take off work just to celebrate my birthday. And no one at my job really cares (even though I did have a nice lunch with a few of them yesterday)....I can't tell you how many emails I had this morning when I logged on talking about urgent things that needed to happen right away. Don't they know it's my birthday? Geez.

I won't be having a big party, I won't be showered with gifts and attention like I was in my younger years. People just don't get as excited about celebrating with a grown woman as they do with a child, or a 16 year old....or a 21 year old. Once you pass those marks you're old news.

But even though it's not the big deal that it used to be, I almost like things better this way. My sweet little hubby woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me happy birthday. He also sent me gorgeous flowers at work yesterday, which was a big surprise a day early. My best friends all text or called first thing this morning from their own jobs. My parents both text me (even my mom, who was sleeping upstairs in this very house) to wish me a happy birthday. And man, the Facebook messages that you get on a birthday! It's crazy how much a tiny "Happy Birthday" from people from various stages of my life can brighten my day.

 Birthday Flowers From the Sweetest Hubby

Tonight, my mom will be fixing me my favorite meal. A real "white person" meal as Arsen calls them. It's called mushroom steak, and for all I know it's something she made up. We eat it with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans, and it is the most delicious thing I have had. Two nights ago she made me meatloaf and mashed potatoes...man, I have missed home cooked meals these past several years! She was kind enough to come down and stay with me while Arsen was traveling for work this week, and she decided to stay through my birthday. What a good mother I have :)

Other than my birthday dinner, I'm not sure what else is on the agenda for my birthday weekend. I wanted to plan something with all of my friends, but Arsen acted like he didn't want me to do that. So I don't know if he's got something planned that I just don't know about, or if he wasn't wanting to do anything big. He's being very evasive about things....sneaky. One of my best friends, Alyssa, is coming down  from Oklahoma to visit tonight, so I'm excited about that little reunion. And hopefully I'll get a present of some sort....Arsen already let me go on a little shopping spree that was technically my birthday gift, but a girl can hope, right?

Before I go, I wanted to say THANK YOU so much to all of you who left sweet comments about the loss of my Granddaddy. You have no idea what it meant to me to read those kind words. Even though I was a bit too emotionally drained to respond to you all, it really did warm my heart to know that you all were thinking of me. Isn't this blogging world crazy? People who I never would have been connected to without this place were there to comfort me when I needed it. Pretty incredible.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'll be back soon, and hopefully on a more regular basis. Happy Friday!