The big 3-5!

Well, today is my birthday, and I'm in pretty good company. I share the day with Dolly Parton and Paula Deen! Spunk and butter...that about sums me up (or at least I'd like to think so)!

My poor mom braved a blizzard in Birmingham, Alabama, to get to the hospital to give birth to me. No one knew how to drive or had snow tires, and a police officer had to get my mom to the hospital after a harrowing walk up a steep hill (both directions barefoot, I'm sure).  ;)  I was supposed to be a scheduled C-section because my brother had been an emergency C-section, but my mom got to go through labor (lucky girl!) for awhile because the anesthesiologist had gone home and couldn't get back to the hospital through the winter weather. (I can imagine her distress...definitely not part of the deal...labor pains and the joy of recovering from having your belly slashed open (though at least this time they could make the cut straight!))  My dad was at home sleeping...the excitement from my brother's birth 2 1/2 years before had been enough to last him a lifetime, apparently! The family lore is that my mom called to tell him he had a baby girl, he said "great" and promptly went back to sleep. (I was born just after 7 in the morning.). When he got up later, my grandmother asked if he'd heard anything from my mom when he nonchalantly gave her the news. Poor dad...every year we give him a hard time about it. Gotta love family traditions!

For many years, I was the most excited about turning 34. That was my varsity volleyball number is high school, and I always looked forward to it being one of the best years of my life.  Well, it was!  My boyfriend, Bryan, proposed to me on almost my birth minute last year, and I was very surprised, but excited! I said yes, of course, and one of these years (probably this one), we'll actually get married!  I sort of wish we'd gotten our license so that we could run to the courthouse today, since it's a Federal holiday on the anniversary of our first date and we'll be out of town on his birthday.  I guess we'll just have to have another special day to celebrate...awww darn!

The only sad part about looking forward to being a certain age for most of your life is that now my big year is over.  I'll never be 34 again.  As I told my mom yesterday, it's all downhill from here.  I was joking, but it felt like less of a joke when I got up for Pilates at 5:30 this morning...yikes!  Now I wish I'd taken the morning off work for a leisurely breakfast and sewing time, but I always wish that by Thursday morning, so...better to stick with routine!

At least my favorite year ended well...Bryan brought me these gorgeous flowers.  He brought me some right before Christmas, and the purple flowers were actually just finally starting to fade yesterday...well done, my good man.  But, these are just exquisite.  I have no idea what that purple one is, but it is so cool!  Maybe some sort of thistle?  The first flowers Bryan gave me were purple tulips...he'd actually listened through our many hours of conversation, and he paid attention(!) and knew that purple was/is my favorite color.  I don't know why things like that still shock me and please me so much, but they do!  I'm a very lucky birthday girl, indeed!