Life in Beta

September 4th was Little Man’s 2nd birthday. It’s really hard to believe how much he’s grown in the year I’ve known him. He’s gone from a “baby” to a “child” overnight, it seems.

A year ago I’d never changed a diaper in my life. And though I still usually leave that job to Daddy (heh), I have since conquered that and more. Bathtime, books, pajamas and playtime … every moment (even the occasional grumpy one) is a joy and I feel truly blessed to have been able to experience them alongside his dad.

Anyway… Daddy and Miu had WAY too much fun shopping for him. We got him a few little trucks and things, but his big gift was a kid-sized basketball hoop.

Little Man is ALL about basketball right now and the hoop was totally Daddy’s idea. What a great idea it was, too! As soon as he ripped the paper off and saw what it was, he was jumping up and down, exclaiming “Basketball! Basketball!” over and over. Wish I’d gotten that on video.

I did get some video though. Here’s Little Man shooting some hoops!

Daddy: Time for bed.
Little Man: I can’t, I’m playing basketball!
Daddy: But you need to go to bed.
Little Man: No, I NEED to play basketball!

I’ve been trying to write a post about my birthday, but I can’t seem to muster up anything coherent. Suffice to say, it was good. Simple, quiet, and happy.

My friend Mike came to visit. We celebrated with wine and desserts (crème brûlée and pecan cheesecake) at September’s Café. (Their wine menu? Amazing.)

We also played around at Sam Ash for a while. Boy was in his element there…

(Excuse the sound, obviously the video camera wasn’t hooked in to the electronics…)

I love it when friends and family from back home come to visit. It gives me an excuse to do all the Nashville touristy things all over again, even though I’ve lived here for three years. Opryland, the Ryman, Tootsies, etc. etc.

We’re also doing a bunch of things that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but never had the opportunity: We’re going to the Frist and exploring some of the local art galleries. We’re going to have breakfast at The Pancake Pantry. I think it’s going to be fun.

Basically I’m stretching out the birthday celebrations another week or so. Wahoo!

I’m 28 today. Twenty-freakin’-eight.

I feel like I’m still about 17. Where did the time go?

I haven’t had my first gray hair pop up yet. Then again, Benjamin at Tangles keeps my hair dyed so masterfully that I’m not sure I’d know if I had any. (Seriously, that man works wonders.)

In the last year I have managed to develop my first wrinkles though — two of them, right between my eyebrows. I distinctly remember the first time, about a month ago, that I touched my face and felt the lines and realized that they remained creased no matter how I contorted my face. Crap. Of course I’d get scowl lines instead of laugh lines. Bring on the Oil of Olay!

(There’s a strong possibility I may be hallucinating these “wrinkles”, but I’m taking preventative measures.)

Despite all that and despite the fact that 28 is frighteningly close to 30 (we won’t talk about that), I’m pretty excited about this birthday overall.

First off, though this will sound superstitious and stupid, I find that even-numbered birthdays (which are also even-numbered years, in my case) always go better than odd-numbered birthdays. I’m going to run with this theory and declare this an awesome year.

Also, I’ve decided that the age of 28 makes you sound like you know something. (What? I don’t know. But something.) That is, in your late-20′s you seem old enough to be an adult and be at least somewhat an authority on life, yet you’re still young enough to be stupid and have fun on the weekends. I like that.

(As an aside: When I was a kid I believed I would “know it all” by the age of 30. I think I’m waaay behind on that. Maybe I’ll shoot for about 80…)

How am I celebrating? Quietly, with my dog and cat and dear friend, Mike, who drove down all the way from Pennsylvania today. I made a roast in the crockpot and I think maybe we’ll go out for dessert and drinks (’cause let’s face it — baking your own birthday cake sucks). I like quiet birthdays anyway.

Rumor has it, though, that the knit shop girls have more planned for us February-birthday-girls on Saturday. Which means a heluva good time! Those gals are crazy and I love every one of them like family.

Anyway, before I go off on a mushy-tangent… Yes, I am 28 today. And it is going to be a good year.

I’ve gotten some of the coolest birthday cards in the mail this week. My friends know me way too well! It’s also lovely to know I have friends who take time to pick cards that really suit me to a “T”.

I got this fantastic card from Erica, which describes our friendship perfectly. I thought I’d share it with you all because most of you could appreciate this, I think…

No matter what the time of day,
we always have so much to say –
we talk, we twitter, text and gab,
we chit, we chat,  we blog, we blab.

We tell it straight, we tell it true,
you email me, I IM you,
on our cells or at the mall,
or writing on each other’s wall…

From “Hi – hello” to news that’s global
face to face, online and mobile,
up to date, and in the loop,
we know what’s what, we scoop the scoop…

There isn’t much that we don’t share,
because we can, because we care,
our next topic to discuss?
this world needs more real friends like us!