38

It's funny how the concept of birthdays have changed in my mind as the years go by. You would think that as I age, the apprehension would grown stronger as the day approached, but funny enough, I have found that just the opposite seems to occur now.

On Saturday, I turned the big 3-8.
I remember when I first hit 30, I thought my youth had totally disappeared and could not believe that I was entering this decade of life (ha - so funny now). I played the "I'm so old game" and "let me latch onto age 29 forever" dealio. But something happened as the "mid-thirties" crept up on me and I sort of shifted that mindset and stepped back a bit to view the "bigger picture."

I know it sounds cliche, but I realized that every year I am around, I learn so much more, become so much more, and experience so much more. All of this growth sort of accumulates and the repertoire of who I am and "What Makes Me Jinxi" seems to culminate together, just as a new 365-day-span starts again.

I would like to think that I'm just playing the optimistic card, but strangely enough, it's kind of more than that. I really DO feel that way. Kind of like I "earned" each tally-up on the age clock and am glad I got each experience necessary to reach it.

It also didn't hurt that my family made the day extremely special for me.
All three kiddos made me sweet, heartfelt cards/letters (my favorite) that are the ultimate treasure.We had a nice dinner out - despite having made plans to trek down to The Native, a vegan restaurant in Costa Mesa, when our plans were cut short due to every freeway from Corona to CM being closed due to the horrible fires - we still ended up finding nice vegan-friendly fare locally.And I got to embark on a little "splurgy" birthday shopping, which is always fun to buy things that you really don't need, simply because you are extra special that day. =)

All-in-all, tiptoeing into the "official late-30s" was pretty sweet. And I'm stoked to hit 39, because there is a Cure song about just that, entitled "39." (wink wink)

Over & Out,
j-boo

**me on my 38th birthday**

**With Steve at dinner**

**my three little monkeys playing "Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil."