beach

Yesterday was, finally, lovely. I went for a quick run and then Annie, Toby, and I went to the beach while Chris went for his run. It was fun and beautiful but more than I could handle. Toby was so stoked to be at the beach that he was going crazy, chasing the ball and swimming and generally running around. Annie decide she wanted to go in the water and was doing okay until she was completely taken out by a small wave and rolled in her perfectly dry clothes. Before pictures:

birthday "week"

The last time I had a birthday week was probably in Gainesville. Back then, birthdays were definitely several days long but usually lasted at least a week. A perfect example of this was Jessica and Ellen's 21st birthdays, which were two Thursdays in a row, giving us all a two-week party.

I really am surprised and a little traumatized to be leaving my 20's behind. This is less traumatizing that surprising. I am 30.....? 30...?! What does this mean? I can't actually remember my 20th birthday, but it probably went something like this: BBQ at Royal Village, maybe some time by the pool if it was warm enough, beer, then maybe capped off by a night at Grog. I was single at this point, enjoying the Gville life. Ten years later, life is different: calmer, slower yet busier at the same time, happy, better. Yes, different, but I would say better. In some ways my life now is surprising but also could have been predicted. At this point in my journey, I am confident and capable, loving and open.

Now, away from the middle-aged rambling and back to the basics. My birthday started with dinner at our house and drinks at Fly's Tie on 3/20. Chris made a meatless feast, and many of my favorite people took their time to celebrate me! :) What feels better than good friends? My real birthday, though somewhat dampened by the transmission news and a horrid case of laryngytis, was fun and celebratory when we went to dinner with Nana, Mom, and Dad. Today, a trip to the zoo put the finishing touches on a very special and memorable week. A few pics:

Giraffe:

Annie, Chris and an elephant bum:

Annie and Grandma:

pissing off the car gods

Truly sorry to be so crude. As most of you probably do not know, Chris and I really turned over a new leaf this year. I read Dave Ramsey and we have really (100% truly) been budgeting and saving - not some of the time but all of the time. I am not going to be crude again and talk about money, but we are like most Americans in that we have very little in emergency savings. We are not idiots. We pay our bills and we contribute to our retirement, but there just is not much left over. Dave is inspirational, and we finally (finally!) got a mini emergency fund and I was feeling in control and positive until this week when our emergency fund is not nearly enough to cover all this crap:

3/19: Katie's blinker on the fritz (yes, this is apparently cheap although I don't know because I haven't fixed it yet but this just set the tone)
3/20: Squeaky brakes = new rotors for Chris = sorry Kate, you have to wait another week for two new tires even though you have to fill up the one with the slow leak several times a week (good thing I don't drive far)
3/22: Katie's car won't start = new starter (the only blessing in this is the angel at the auto parts store who saved us several hours of labor)
3/23: Chris new transmission (total damage TBA)
3/23: Adding it because it is truly odd that it happened today: all my radio stations spontaneously reset to fuzz. What the......?????????

My last post as a 29 year old is a total pity post. I guess I won't be blogging from my new birthday laptop tomorrow.

Bah. You know how you feel like you work so hard to get ahead and get your life in order and, in a blink, you are back to square one? Have you been there?