Trading Up

So, in First Grade one of the biggest Math concepts I teach my kids is trading up.  You know, place value, when you get ten 1's and then they trade up to make one 10.  Well, I'm about to have a real life connection to this concept.  Yes, tomorrow is my birthday!  But it's not just any birthday, it's the big 3-0.  I'm leaving my twenties behind, for good.  A different age bracket, filling in a different bubble on forms.  Call it what you will, I'm there, well almost.  I'm not quite sure how to feel.  For a while I was freaked out by this.  Then I went through an acceptance period where it didn't seem that bad.  Well, now that I am faced with the big date, I'm not quite sure how I feel.  I don't feel 30.  Maybe age is just a number?  Or is that just what old(er) people say when they are unhappy with the result of their trading up?  I also am left wondering what the name for this time in life is called.  I'm not a young adult, nor am I (obviously) in my 20's.  But I definitely don't think I am anywhere near middle-age!  Gasp!  I'd better not be.  So it must be some gray (pun intended) area in life.  This new age, and the fact that just a few nights ago I was actually excited to sit and watch Election 2010 coverage on TV, has me feeling old(er).  I don't feel old(er), yet at least.  I don't have gray hair (trust me, I've been checking).  Wrinkles?  Well, that depends on how you define it.  Laugh lines don't count right?  I mean they are a happy thing.  Maybe that's another gray area.  

Of course I am happy about celebrating my birthday, I love birthdays.  Plus, my wonderful wife Amy has busted her butt (no pun intended!) to prepare a surprise birthday trip this weekend and I am 100% clueless as to what awaits us on Saturday!  I am very excited about it!  All I know is that the 4 of us are taking a trip somewhere and that it will more likely than not lead to some good Sunday Snapshot pictures for this weekend!  Woo hoo!  Also, life is great right now and I am loving it!  I have a fantastic wife, 2 great (if not slightly hyperactive) boys, we are moving closer in to find our dream house, and we are getting into a financially excellent place!   Things can only get better!  So maybe the 30's won't be that bad right?  Well, so long as the gray stays away!

All is well, another decade down, in Drosche Land.