29 + Everything is New

Yesterday was my 29th birthday!  I spent the day with the littlest handsome guy above and the evening with the biggest handsome guy above and our little group of friends.  It was a good day.

Last year on my birthday, I got all introspective about what the previous year (27) had been like for me, and all the changes I imagined 28 was going to bring.  I was certainly right about all the changes that were coming, but as I thought about it last night, I was struck by just how significantly different my life is this year:

At 28, I was a wife.  At 29, I'm a wife and a mother.  [In fact, I wrote last year's birthday post the evening we found out I was pregnant - one year ago tomorrow!]

At 28, I was working full-time.  At 29, I'm a stay-at-home mom, and don't have a job of any sort for the first time since I was 16 years old.

At 28, we lived in a tiny apartment in a sort of ungentrified neighborhood in New York City.  At 29, we live in a house that is (literally) three times bigger than that apartment in a suburb neighborhood in Las Vegas.

At 28, we celebrated my birthday by going to an experimental theater production downtown and got back up to our place at midnight (on a work night!).  At 29, we celebrated my birthday by eating pizza and cupcakes at our house with friends...and everyone was gone by 7:15 PM.

Last year's birthday, and last year's life, seems a world away at this point.  It's hard for me to remember what it was like to ride a subway for 2 hours round trip just to go a show or to have to wear a coat in March, and I almost don't even want to remember that I had to spend 28 birthdays before this without kissing the face of my little AA a million times. 

This year is so different.

This year is also so, so good.