Time's Running Out

Here I am...60 minutes from 30. Don't really know what to talk about. I said on Monday I'd be talking about some of my favorite things, but tonight I just can't narrow it down. So, here's a list of memories that make me smile even bigger today than they did when I experienced them for the first time:

• Lunches with me bruder at any Mexican eatery


• Going to Pages for All Ages with my mom on a Friday night and picking out a new John Bellairs


• Eating Grandma's mashed potatoes and green beans--and only mashed potatoes and green beans--on Thanksgiving (why waste time, and tummy space, with anything else?)


• Seeing the view from the top of Kinnoull for the first time


• Asking a cute Scottish guy if he wanted some gum


• Finding out that cute Scottish guy liked "The Power of Love"


• Making snow forts in the Tocks' backyard and then running inside to dethaw with Swiss Miss and microwave popcorn


• Sitting in a cozy kitchen in Jackson, MO, playing games and talking with Clarkie and Kendra, while the Big Car made us potato soup


• Realizing the smell of a paperback book is the best smell in the world


• Driving to a little condo on Christmas mornings with one of the coolest aunts in the world and my blonde, spiky haired brother, singing along with the Christmas songs on Lite Rock, and watching for that ever present Christmas Day jogger


• Birthday sleepovers with 20 girls jammed into the small living room at 1216


• Walking around campus on a bright, sunny March day on the hunt for Illini hoodies during plan time with Red, Pickle, and Masty


• Getting long johns every Friday morning from Big Mac


• Watching the best dog in the whole world run around in circles in the snow


• Listening to my dad's wonderful reading voice tell me about Giant Grummer's Christmas


• Getting flowers from my mom after a musical or concert


• Coloring in Jem with a fresh set of Crayolas


• Making friends with the Keatons, Huxtables, and Seavers


• Watching Haverchuck eat Entemann's and grilled cheese


• Walking home from Murphy's with Sissy and discovering Jason wasn't insane for ordering a vanilla Mountain Dew


• Sitting on a wall in the Memphis heat in August, getting sweaty with my best friends


• The first day I cracked a real smile and knew teaching at Franklin really was the job for me (first day of 4th quarter, my first year)


• Hearing a cry and then yelling out, "Is she here???" And then looking at the most beautiful face I've ever seen over a sheet of crinkly blue

I suppose, when I think about it, the only--and I mean ONLY--thing I'm not looking forward to as I get older is time flying by quicker. I just don't think this is fair. As you get older, and you enjoy life more, time moves by faster and faster. I mean, seriously, you can't truly enjoy yourself when you're a kid. You can't really appreciate the abundance of free time you get to play with your She-Ra toys, read your Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew books, and watch You Can't Do That On Television. You only truly appreciate that when you get older...like NOW. What I wouldn't give to go back in time just to appreciate and relish my free time with my mom, dad, and brother. (Dad, I'm still sorry I ever complained about going a walk with you around Crystal Lake park. I want to take a DeLorean back to those weekends and slap my little punk ass silly. Pardon the harsh language.) That's why today I try as hard as I can to make every free second count (which is why I hate that the weekends are taken up with chores).

Watch out, 30, I'm about to take over, and I'm gonna be the happiest, bubbliest, can't-get-enough-of-itest 30-year-old you've ever seen!