Another Year to Celebrate!

According to the Days Alive Calculator, I've been breathing 17,530 days so far. That's 48 years. 48! Can you believe it? And I'm not the only one.

It was a year ago this week that AVTCoach and I struck up a conversation and discovered that, of all things, we are birthday soul sisters. Not just celebrating the same birthday. We were actually born on the same day in the same year. How cool is that?

It took a while to put it all together, but when we did, we had fun comparing notes about our lives. You can read all about my birthday here, what it means to be a Libra here, and her birthday tribute to us both here.

This year, we decided to post a photo history of sorts, showing us at the ages of 8, 18, 28, 38, and ... um, 48. Just so you know, I had to dig pretty deep to find these. (Note to parents of three children: Please keep taking pictures after the third child is born!)

Being from a military family, I'm constantly adding up the years and trying to figure out exactly which state or country I lived in at that time. Now, I can positively say, that at least for part of 1969, I lived in a brick house across the street from my grandparents. Here I am hugging the teddy bear I got for Christmas. I was probably my happiest living here and would gallop imaginary ponies through my grandparents' yard and tie the ponies to the foot of my bed each night.

By the time I was 18, I had graduated high school and had already been working full-time as secretary to the librarian at a junior college. I took classes at night but stopped once I went to work as a secretary/paralegal at a law firm. Here I am celebrating my 18th birthday with my grandmother, Queenie Anne, whose birthday was the day before mine.

By the time I turned 28, a lot had happened. I had become a skydiver and a pilot and was working my way through college. I finally had to leave the law firm because the classes I needed were only offered during the day. I did keep working, though, as a radio DJ and news anchor. The biggest news of the year was that Craig asked me to marry him... at an Alabama football game! After saying "yes," I promptly locked the game tickets and the keys in the car. (And he still married me!)

By the time I was 38, I had become a mom! Hannah was three years old by then. She's definitely my greatest accomplishment. Being her mom is an absolute blessing.

And now, I'm 48. During the past 30 years, I've worked as a paralegal for 11 years, in public relations for 11-12 years, and I've been teaching for nearly five. I wonder what my future holds?

But, more importantly, here's hoping that I have another 17,530 days to live! A happy, healthy ninety-six isn't too much to ask for, is it?!

... that goes for AVT Coach, too! I wouldn't want to celebrate such a big day without her. And if you want to wish my friend a happy birthday, click on over to her site. She's the other Partridge Family fan...!

Happy birthday, Wendy!