44

Today is my birthday, I am 44. The first time I realized my mother's age was on her 44th birthday - that truly was the first time I remember her having a birthday or even realizing she was a regular person who was getting older. I also remember that, at 44, I thought she was very old. (A HECK of a lot older than I feel today!)

So, I guess this post is for my daughters - there was a time before your mom was old, and my life didn't start with our wedding album like you might think. There was a time... a time before mom was 1/2 of "mommy and daddy". (These aren't pictures of monumental moments in my life - not my first steps or prom or graduations... just a couple pictures of regular stuff, which is a better representation of me before you knew me):

Here I am sometime after I turned one. A bow would have killed my mother?



This is in the summer, so I'm guessing I'm 16 or 17 months old here. Check out those legs! (I still have them, btw.)



Second grade? I started my "awkward period" a bit earlier than most. Although I have more lovely school photos like this, this is the last photo I'll ever post of my awkward period - so the next picture is from sometime in ....



...college!! This was a September night, probably a Sunday, since we had class the next morning and were concerned with getting enough sleep! The guy with his arm around me and the girl in pink were two of my very best friends in college.



Delta Zeta! This was a "Yacht Party" our sorority had in 1986. You can tell I'd been landlocked my entire life, hence the JEAN JACKET that I wore. Those white RayBan's were ubiquitous to my college life. (I still have them.) Aunt Suz is in the yellow.


Ahhhh, the perm. Girls, this is what mom's hair usually looked like from about 1984 until 1990. (But usually not this light - highlights gone mad in this photo.) I kid you not - I did that to my hair on purpose!


...and this. This is one of my favorite nights ever... and it wasn't cuz I was rocking the cute Mousketeer costume (which I so was). This was the first night your dad ever kissed me. I think it was the mouse ears that convinced him I was the one.


A few months after that last picture, I turned 30.
Fourteen Years ago I turned 30.
Ouch.

Happy Birthday to me, and all the "me's" I have been getting here.