Let's Get This Birthday Weekend Started (Fist Pump, a la The Jersey Shore)

One day I was talking on the phone with my Mom, and she said "I can't believe you're going to be 40!" And I said, "Yeah Ma, in like TWO years!"

I'm approaching 40. I don't feel like I'm turning 38, not that I know what it's supposed to feel like. I'm still me, but better, I don't miss my 20's at all. I hated all that Searching For Meaning In Your Life, the quest to find a husband, to find a career that you love. The last birthday milestone I had was when I turned 30, and my brain feels much more settled now.

Which is making me think about some of my birthdays.

There was the year I turned six, and wanted a big blue suitcase. Which I got, and proceeded to sit inside of to watch television.

The year I turned 16, and my parents rented out a room at an Italian restaurant, and I had all my best girlfriends out for dinner. I'm still very close to five of those girls.

The year I turned 17 and got my drivers license, and spent the weekend driving around in my Dad's car, which didn't have working seat belts.

The year I turned 18 and I was just excited that I could vote (dork).

The year I turned 19 and was in college, and I got busted for drinking in the dorm. I was so mad I started whipping birthday cake frosting at the window until it looked like it was snowing outside. Then my friend S cleaned it up (Thanks S).

The year I turned 21 and the bouncer at the bar didn't believe my drivers licence (maybe he was used to seeing it chalked) so I had to walk home in a snowstorm to get my passport.

One of many years that my birthday was on the Superbowl, I won $40 in a betting pool.

The year I turned 29 and went out for dinner with friends, and there was a little girl there who looked like my Mini Me. Which made me start to think about having a kid.

The morning of my 30th birthday, I cried on my way to work, it was cold and rainy and crappy out. I didn't feel better until Mike told me he was taking me to Vegas the next day, and had already cleared it with my boss. My coworkers surprised me with a cake, and my family and friends met me at our favorite bar for Happy Hour. I received one of my best birthday presents ever from my friend Jennifer (who I mention so often in this blog that I should just write a whole post about her), a scrapbook, all about me. I'm so happy to have it so Luke and Eliza will know what their Mom was like as a person, and not just as their Mom. On the subway ride home, I sipped from my brown paper bag wrapped beer and felt loved. Until I got off the train, and saw an undercover cop wave me over, to give me a ticket for open container. I told him "I turned 30 today" and he said "Happy Birthday" and let me off.

The year I turned 32 and I was pregnant with Luke. Mike and I went to Balthazar for breakfast, and in addition to my wonderful meal, I ordered a $16 bread basket and ate that as well.

I've had several birthday dinners with my sisters in law, as our birthdays are close together. We've been here, here and here.

The morning I turned 36, and put on my favorite jeans, and they ripped. I wondered if that was some kind of message.

So that's that. For this birthday, I put in my request for a chocolate cake, some time for a run, and a new pair of pj's. And time with Mike and the kids. Like this photo of my first birthday as a Mom of Two. Mike's not in it, but my other loves (including the cake) are.