Thirtysomething...

Okay, so your 20's are your carefree years where, though you are a full-fledged adult, you can get away with pretty much anything. Yes, you're expected to have a job, but pretty much any job can shut people up because you'll be said to be "finding yourself". You are expected to still party too much and do semi-crazy things with your also unattached, carefree 20-something friends. You can rent instead of own and no one will hound you about when you're going to buy a house. You can remain single and no one really gives ya grief before the big 3-0. If you're married, you can really get by for quite awhile without having people asking when you plan to have kids. (Disclaimer on that last part: this is what I hear and not based on personal experience -- I myself didn't test that theory beyond a time span of 3 weeks post-vows while being 28, which is dangerously near 30.)

Looking back, I had some SERIOUSLY fun 20's. A little rough patch in the middle that I'd like to just pretend was someone else's completely moronic series of life decisions, but other than that (like how I actually did just pretend it never happened?), fun and full of accomplishments. I made some of the best friends I know I'll ever have -- and have forever. I found love, lost love, found love again, and went to some really fun places. Might I also add -- I will forever maintain that I was as smart as I'll ever be -- the end of my grad school experience had my brain at full capacity -- there will never be that much USEFUL information swimming around in there again.

I was a typical 20-something woman -- enjoying life to the fullest and COMPLETELY unaware of how good life was. Funny how you don't TRULY appreciate something until it's past. Maybe it's just me, but that seems to be my pattern. I think I appreciate it, but then looking back on things, I find that I didn't appreciate something nearly as much as I do later on.

Okay -- so moving onto the 30's. People start expecting all this stuff. Like stability and responsibility. You pull a stupid move in your 20's and you get excused -- "Hey, she's young. She'll learn." You pull that same move in your 30's and suddenly you're an idiot. Being single in your 30's takes things to another level both for yourself and those around you from what a few of my friends have told me. You put more pressure on yourself and other people around you definitely don't cut you much slack. If you're married and past the age of 30, you better have a date circled on the calendar for when you plan to start "trying" -- this is especially important for the future grandparents. If you'd like to maintain any other avenue of conversation, I suggest leading off with that information at dinner parties and family celebrations. (Again, refer to earlier disclaimer.)

As a 30-something woman now, I say that life is still good but Good Lord I long for my carefree 20-something days every now and then.

Like this morning when I had to wake up at 5:45. For work? No, no, no.

My minivan needed to go to the shop.

Okay -- seriously. My carefree 20-something self never saw this one coming.

I had to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to make sure that the DVD player in my freakin' minivan can get repaired before we go on a road trip, toting two pajama-wearing kids in parkas with me and depositing a suit wearing husband off downtown afterwards. (By the way, he looks super cute when he wears his Bronco hat with his suit. Wouldn't think it would work like that, but it so does.)

I guess there are pros and cons to every age, but man -- sometimes when I think about my life and the things I do every day, I realize that I really *AM* a thirty-something mom of two kids who drives a minivan and is worried about things like private school and retirement.

So depressing. Sort of. Not really. Just weird, I guess.