Turning 40

A friend of mine is turning 40 on Monday and we threw a surprise party for her. It worked, up until we got her to the front door of the house where we held the party. Then, it seemed, the gig was up. She had a great time, though. There were a lot of people there and we all enjoyed chatting and meeting one another. She had mentioned she wanted a kid-themed party and a magician so we went with Veggie Tales and the magician was great. The kids really enjoyed him and.. well... so did the adults! We, of course, had to plaster "40" everywhere so there was no doubt about which birthday this was but she's a true kid at heart so it's just another number.

We've been friends for just about 1/2 of our lives and that never ceases to amaze me. There are four of us who have stayed friends going on 18 years now and through everything we stay pretty close. Our kids have grown up together and it was fun last night watching some of them together again. A couple of them hadn't seen each other in a few years so they were catching up, too. The one in the picture with Chris I've known since he was about 4. He was so little then... 'course, Chris is about 6 months older than Jason so he was little, too. Seeing how they are now grown up is amazing to me.

Turning 40 has been interesting. Not sure Barb will feel the same way but for me, it meant I am officially grown up. I hear how young I am all the time but 40 isn't 20 and things change and you realize you can't be 20 again. That's ok - it's not a bad thing - it's just an odd feeling. I look at these two young men and I realize I was only slightly older than they are now when I met Barb. Where did all of that time go? I know how blessed I am, though. God has definitely been good to me in the friends department. I don't think I'd trade any of them but most definitely not Barb, Laurie or Liz for anything.