WhiteEyebrows vs Turning 30

Last Sunday morning greeted me at the same time as it does every week – 7:30am.  Thankfully WEJr had not chosen to beat my digital alarm to the punch hours earlier with his own alarm mechanism.  Gift #1 for my 30th Birthday.

I woke up, rolled over in bed and immediately thought – “Why am I this tired and sore?”  Granted, we had done some walking and some stressing on Saturday, but nothing that I thought merited my body feeling like it had been steamrolled through the night.

When I finally mustered the courage to roll my achy body onto my tentative legs (whew… they held up!), I caught a glimpse of my hairline in the mirror.  Yup – just as I thought – slightly thinner than yesterday.

After showering, I took a look at the state of my corporeal union.  Hmm – overall, no significant change since Saturday.  Final assessment: the battle line between overweight and B-roll-material-for-news-story-on-obesity was still raging, but I think I’m holding the line.

Yes – 30 has hit.

Looking back, it was a great decade.  I was a missionary for my church, I spent 3 great years in college, I worked as a stage manager, I started my own business, I worked as a graphic designer and usability expert, and bought my first home.  I travelled the world; Brazil, Italy, Canada, New York, California, North Carolina, Florida.  Above all, I got married and had my first child (well, I guess A2 did most of the work there).

If I had to give credit to someone, it’d have to be my parents.  They gave me every advantage they could to get me going in adulthood.  My parents gave me my first car (which I still drive today) and paid all my tuition expenses for school, but in even more important ways (and in ways they may not even know) they have been there to coach me along for the better part of the decade – making life decisions, career decisions, family decisions.  Some things I learned by example and others by direct counsel.

This week was especially taxing, because for two weeks now we’ve been struggling with a dying car.  For some reason, undiagnosable by any area mechanic, A2’s car decided it wanted to start stalling for no reason, even while going at full speed down the road.  (What ever happened to Honda engines being able to run forever if you just put oil and gas into them?) We basically got to the point where we were deciding whether to enter the car market, or just start testing theories by fixing things – a potentially expensive way to try and get a 13 year old car to keep running.  After weeks of test driving every sedan on the market, and coaxing every dollar we felt like we could afford out of savings, the auditor-wife approved purchasing a new (used) car.

I feel like this purchase, as stressful as it was, completed my entry into 30 year old territory.  I had managed, for my entire life, to put off ever purchasing a car.  Being the son of a very capable car person and a brother to a ASE certified mechanic, cars were really always taken care of.  The events of the past two weeks, however, have allowed me to pass through that helpless feeling of laying out a ton of money on a depreciating asset that I’ve grown dependent on and also taken for granted for the last 10 years.  Yes, I now feel the entire weight of my life on squarely on my own shoulders – and so far, I’m still holding up.

What’s to come in my 30’s?  Expanding the family?  Paying off the house?  Change of career?  More world travels?  Who can know!?!  Either way, I’m excited for the ride.  If it’s even 1/8 as exciting as my twenties, it will be a decade for the record books!