....and I had a birthday.

I was really thinking about this last week as I was adding another year on my age. I remember when my mom turned 30 and I thought she was soooo old. (I was 7 at the time) When I hit 30, I had three kids that were 7, 6, and 2. Was I old? Um, no. I think I'm more active than my kids are! I did have grey hair, but that hit me at 22 with kid #1. So, my conclusion as these numbers keep typing out is: in your thirties you finally feel comfortable in your own skin. Even though you might have extra skin for having lived those 30 years. For your record-keeping - I'm now 33.

They tried to surprise me. ( not a good idea for a girl who has anxiety issues but they wanted to surprise me) Well, not really a surprise that we're going out for dinner when the power is off at my house AND at my mom's. We were all going out to dinner. Duh. But the surprise was WHERE we were going. I got a little upset when we drove by Longhorn because there is nothing I like more than a bacon-wrapped filet. Really, NOTHING. But when we headed for Ybor, I had a feeling that we were headed for the Columbia or Spaghetti Warehouse. (please, please, no columbia! my parents used to take me there and i just can not tolerate the smell. i used to go by there every morning on the bus when i was booker t and my stomach would churn from the smell of food so early in the morning) We were going to the Spaghetti Warehouse which has history. Tampa history - which the kids found exciting with the brick roads, the warped brick roads, the rail tracks in the brick roads, the troller car INSIDE of the restaurant and the stories of cigar making. And Brown Family history - the Spaghetti Warehouse is where we had our rehearsal dinner just over 11 years ago and this was our first time back since then.

The photo. Explanation - Devin has a hard time keeping his eyes open for pictures. He anticipates the flash and his timing is perfect because his eyes are closed in EVERY picture. This was our family helping Daddy keep his eyes open. Here we are! All bright-eyed and....well, you can't see our bushy tails....on my birthday. :-)