Thirty-something

As of Friday, I am officially "thirty-something-or-other." Do the details really matter? Kidding aside, I have hardly had time to process my transition into the next decade. Ryan was only 3 weeks old when I turned 30. I had to think long and hard to recall any details about that day. I know that my driver's license was going to expire, so my in-laws came over to babysit in the afternoon to help me stay legal. A former student and her mother stopped by to bring us dinner (baked ziti). Ryan gave me the best present any mother could receive - he smiled for the first time as I lifted him out of the crib that morning. How could I complain about leaving the 20's while holding a healthy, beautiful, smiling baby boy?

This birthday found Paul and me headed to Atlanta for our first night away from Ryan. The trip fell into place at the last-minute, just when I thought I might never take a another vacation. My in-laws again stepped up and generously offered to endure 36 hours with their grandson.

Paul and I had a wonderful time! It was incredibly refreshing to have a break from the daily routine (eat-play-sleep-diaper-eat-play-sleep-diaper) and to have Paul all to myself. It poured rain the entire time, but we didn't even care.

We left Asheville early on Friday morning, had lunch just north of Atlanta, and then saw a rare exhibit of items from the tomb of King Tutankhamun at the Atlanta Civic Center. Next, we headed to our hotel, the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, where we were completely pampered at every turn.

My birthday dinner was at The Melting Pot! It is one of our favorite restaurants, and we had missed celebrating special occasions there since the one in Asheville flooded in 2004. We left stuffed and satistified.

On Saturday morning, we SLEPT IN until 9:30 a.m.! We couldn't remember the last time that happened, but it's safe to say it was well over a year ago. I refused to check-out of the hotel a minute early, so we had a leisurely breakfast before heading out to meet up with my brother Mark.

Mark joined us for the China Terracotta Warrior exhibit at the High Museum of Art and a late afternoon lunch before we returned to Asheville.

It was an amazing weekend. I couldn't believe how much I missed Ryan, but he was very well taken care of and had a special weekend of his own. The number of the birthday really doesn't matter when you're focused on the many ways in which your life has been blessed thus far (right?).