Lordy, Lordy

The day I've been dreading for the last ten years - since I turned 30 - arrived. We were supposed to have yet another round of bitterly cold weather with nasty freezing and frozen precipitation, so nothing had been planned. The children were aghast at the thought that Mumma would have no birthday cake, but they were pacified by the thought of blueberry muffins with candles in them! Welcome to the downhill slide, I thought to myself more than just a few times in the days (and weeks) leading to the day.

But ... it's all okay, and pretty much the same as it was the day before. I didn't suddenly sprout horns. There's not a neon sign over my head that says DONE WITH YOUTH. Deep creases and wrinkles did not appear all over me from nowhere. I'm just me, like I have been for a good while now.

As it happened, there was no storm to speak of this weekend. It spat snow and ice bits and freezing rain for a while on Saturday, but it wasn't for long, and there wasn't much of it, and it didn't seem to hang around. We went to our favorite Japanese hibachi steakhouse for dinner to celebrate (and took a REAL birthday cake for Mumma ... plus one for Mumma's darling cousin Becca, the only other girl on the McGee side, who turned 21 in the really awful storm that DID happen last weekend).

You may already know that I'm the kind of girl who has what she wants. I figured out that if I want something, I can go get it for myself. I don't need someone else to get it for me, and I generally don't need permission from anyone to get what I want within certain parameters ... wouldn't buy a house without discussing it with the spousal unit, for example. I am old enough to have heard Helen Reddy describe being Strong and Invicible on the radio when I was a little kid, and I believed her. This is all wrapped up into one big feeling that is difficult to explain, but totally enjoyable from inside my skin. It presents, however, a small issue to the spousal unit at times like these ... what do you get the girl that's got everything for a milestone birthday?

Well ... you give her a trip to Paris, apparently.

The simplicity and practicality of it are stunning. We'll be in England this summer anyhow, and England is way closer to France than Oklahoma, so it makes sense to go from there, especially when you consider that Mum and Pops are always looking for time to spend with the twins that doesn't include "parental interference". We found some flights from Manchester (yay, another two hour drive through the #@%&ing Pennine Mountains each way) to Paris, and a hotel that isn't a fleabag, priced unbelievably low on Travelocity ... bought them ... and we're off.

Hmph. Maybe I should turn 40 next year, too.