Day #19: Age: 30

Today I am 30.

Not surprisingly, I doesn't feel much different than 29.

My parents and sister threw me a three-year-old's birthday party last weekend. Cutest. Thing. Ever. Mom had cupcakes, streamers, matching plates and napkins with a cornocopia of cupcake flavors featured on them (see photo for details).

Before the party started, my sister looked at me and said, "You're not turning thirty. Your turning free" and held up three fingers. Adorable.

My in-laws helped me eat three pizzas last night, which could not have made me happier.

But The Best Birthday Present Ever Prize goes to my husband for this:

Last night we were in bed (get your head out of the gutter). I'm watching TV and Mike is effing around with his iPhone, as usual. Mike starts chuckling a little. Then he starts full blown laughing.

Me: [annoyed at show interruption] "What's so damn funny?"

Mike: Your blog.

Baaaahzinga! We have a winner!

A few odds and ends before I finally say goodbye to this blog. First, the answers to some (In)Frequently Asked Questions:

Regarding Day #12: Technology: "Did you get your 20 bucks?" - BS in Midlothian, VA.
BS, thanks for writing in. Yes, I did get my 20 bucks, all in $5 bills, because the CS"P" had run out of tens and 20s. Shocker.

Regarding Day #8: Homeownership Part 1 in which I discuss my clever air-conditioning unit disguise plan: "Is it behind the plant?!" -- fellow blogger NatCrat in MD.
NatCraft, thanks for playing along. No one else ventured guesses. The answer is, yes. I hid the air-conditioner behind a palm tree and pretended it wasn't there for 6 months, until Mike and his dad took it out one day and patched the wall. When I pointed out to people, "Hey! Look what Mike and his dad did! They took out the air-conditioner!" visitors would respond with: "What air-conditioner?" Prooving definatively that people are less observant than we all hoped.


Regarding Day #13: Holidays: "Did you plan the matching sweaters?" -- everybody who read that post.
No we didn't (scout's honor). However, as my cousin (and artist) Kate noted, there were many, many, many planned matching-sweater events in my childhood. Meg and I can be found in a variety of ancient photographs, sporting identical old-lady reindeer sweaters, presumably of craft-fair origin. My mom can produce said photographs upon request.

Regarding Day #11: Holly Homemaker I am Not: "Where can I get an out fit like that for a little kitchen fantasy i have?" -- Anonymous.

First, I would give good money to know who this is (I have some suspicions...). Second, I'm sorry to say I have no idea where you can find an outfit like that, but I applaud your creativity.

Regarding me, in general: "Are you going to write a book/column/another blog?" -- Nice People Who Love Me.
First off, this is a massive compliment. Every time someone mentions this, I feel super-proud and grateful.

The thing is: I prefer to write blogs with an angle so I don't wander off into too-general, wildly-unrelated, mucky-mucking about stuff. Currently, I can't really think of an angle that can sustain a blog (or a book) over a long period of time (or pages), which is why I do these short-term blog projects.

However, if you have any suggestions for what I could write an entire blog (or book) about, please suggest away. I'd love to hear some ideas.

Next item of business: Thank Yous.

My mother raised me right, so I'd like to thank...

Cass. You gave me permission to use "Urban Assault Vehicle" (Day #3: Driving) 10 years ago, but I still want to make sure you get credit for that one. 10 years later, its still damn funny. Thanks also for the trip down memory lane and reminding me about "The Fish Tank."

My sister Meg, with whom I shared a facebook banter about her Subaru. I was still laughing about that days later and it inspired Day #6: Vehicles.

My mom, for (1) saying nice things about me in the comments on Day #11: Holly Homemaker and for (2) the laughs at the party. I know you don't want me to say which joke of yours I used, but thanks for letting me steal it and for inspiring the blog its found in.

My mother-in-law Sharon, who I plan on asking to become my agent. Thanks for the heaps of support and for encouraging me to start blogging in the first place.

Sara Eastman (blog promoter extrodinaire) and Kara Eller (fellow blogger) for your support via facebook emails. Talking about writing helps me write better.

Thank you to my 17 followers. I'm not clear what happens when you become a follower (I hear nothing happens except that you show up in my list of followers) but I appreciate having something akin to a fan club.

A huge thanks to anyone who posted a link to Act Your Age on your facebook page and brought a whole new set of readers to the blog. So incredibly cool of you.

And of course, Mike, who lets me broadcast stuff about him and our lives freely, and who is this writer's favorite person and greatest supporter.