I am 31 and a half years old.  That's right!  I'm not just 31, but 31 and a half.  I've decided that if kids are soooo darn excited about the half than I need to be too!

Afterall, that's another half of a year that the Lord has given me to live.  That's another 1/2 of the year to spend with my family, breathe fresh air, and laugh! 

I'm glad I'm getting older.  Who wants to stay where they are all the time?  I'll admit I am awfully happy at 31 and a half, but I want to keep living.  Everyday life brings me something new and wonderful.  Aging is wonderful. 

It seems like just yesterday I would be sitting waaaay to close to the T.V. while my dad would shout out demands like, "Turn it up!"  "Turn it down."  "Switch the channel."  He would be flipping thru a T.V. guide and he would decide which of the 5 channels we would watch. 

Nowadays, you just sit comfortably on the couch with a remote in hand.  In fact, you actually fight with your spouse on who gets to hold it.  I wouldn't have fought to change the channel back then.  Now, I'm careful not to disturb my comfortable position while changing

A lot has changed since I was a kid, and I was a kid yesterday.  At least it feels like it.  Here's a list of things that have changed:

1.)  T.V., of course.  Besides having over a hundred channels to choose from, you can now rent movies straight from your living room.  I remember being a kid and renting a video recorder at our local movie rental spot.  We would all pick out a movie, order a pizza, hook up the video recorder and start our Friday night.  It was a big, exciting event! 

2.) Everyone has  cell phones now.  It's hard to believe, but I didn't have one in high school.  I got my first cell phone early in college.  That's when the big wave of cell phone use started.  HOW in the world did we manage to get by without the use of them?  Mine is always in my hand, purse, or within reaching distance now.  Land line?  What's a land line?

3.)  Okay, I remember getting our first microwave.  I was about 6 or 7 years old.  My Dad and Papa walk in the house after working a long day.  They were builders together.  My Mom and all of us girls were in the kitchen.  They walk in holding a huuuuuge box with a countertop microwave in it.  Papa had bought himself one too.  It was exciting.  The "don't put a fork in it" conversation came up.  It's funny, but I remember that quite well.  Now, a countertop microwave is tiny.  My microwave is now an over the range type.

4.) Paying bills was strictly thru the mail or by person.  I hardly ever pay a bill by mail anymore.  Every bill I have is automatically deducted from my checking account or I  pay with on-line bill pay.  Think of all the little stamps that are saved now.  I hardly ever use my checkbook.  I used to go thru checks and try to beat the check to the bank with my next paycheck.  You can't do that anymore.  Even checks can be automatically deducted if handed to a cashier.  Amazing!

5.)  Now, this one is big!  I uses to carry something green in my wallet.  Now, if I have a few dollars in my purse I actually feel different.  It's kinda cool.  I will carry dollars sometimes for my vending machine at work, but that's really about it.  Soon, you'll be able to put your credit card in those too.  I believe they already make vending machines that work like that.  Anyway, I loooove my debit card.  It makes things so much easier, but I miss the days of cash a little. 

Well, I'm sure I could come up with tons more, but I would like to see what you can think of. 

 Do you ever wish you were something that you're not?  I mean to the point that you actually start believing that you are something that you're not.  Here's a list of things I wish I was and often believe I am:

Gardener:  I want to be a gardener.  I really do.  I tried this two summers ago.  My husband made me about a 10*20 ft garden. I planted my vegetables and watched them grow,,,,kinda grow.  I planted an herb garden too.  I even used them in several dishes.  I really wanted to be a successful gardener.  It didn't work out.  I'll try again this spring.

Avid Fisherman:  I enjoy fishing.  I only fish maybe once or twice a year though.  I feel like I'm this girl that loves to go fishing.  So, why do I insist that my husband baits my hook and throw the fish back in for me? 

Gourmet Chef:  I love cooking!  This truly is one of my favorite things to do, but for the most part I stick to cooking the same things over and over.  I have an okay list of things that I cook a lot...but I really need to try something new.  I wish I could be like Emeril.

Perfect Sexual Partner:  I really want to be my husband's everything in bed if you know what I mean.  I always imagined myself to be the wife that put on the fancy lingerie and pleased my husband to the fullest.  The reality is I'm the wife that sleeps in her husband's oversized t-shirt and asks him to turn the lights off.  Please let me keep my bra and socks on.  Pathetic.

That's just the short list.  The truth is, I might be a little bit of all those things, but just not to the extent that I'm really any of them fully.  How much of something really makes you something.  I feel to be a gardener you really have to do it everyday.  The same goes with fishing, cooking, etc.  The only things I really do EVERYDAY or at least several times a week are:  take a shower, love on my baby, go to work, exercise, talk on the phone, watch t.v., kiss my husband and go to church. 

So, what am I then?  Am I just your average person who has hobbies that they rarely enjoy.  The truth is I enjoy my life.  I especially enjoy my family.  So, maybe I'm just your average mom, wife, friend, sister, daughter, employee. 

What do you think you are....or at least want to be?