Lessons learned

I've been riding this giant ferris wheel known as the earth all by myself for 28 years now (sorry mom, the time you carried me doesn't count here).  Today I'm at work.  It's okay.  As I get older, I realize that birthdays are more about what you have learned, and how you will proceed in the next year, than they are about having fun, getting presents, and eating cake.

Over the weekend, one of my friends pinned a graphic to her Pinterest account that was a speech Wil Wheaton gave about why it's cool to be a nerd.  I loved it, and so I went to YouTube, to see it delivered in Wil Wheaton's special way.  And I loved it even more.  You see, I have always been somewhat of a nerd.  I love fantasy novels, science, reading, sewing, needlepoint, and a mess of other "not cool" things.  And it hasn't been until these last few years that I have decided to embrace my love of these things instead of hiding from them.  It wasn't until this last year that I decided not to let other people make me feel "uncool" for liking these things, and that if they don't accept my hobbies, that's their own insecurity.  And while Wil made this speech to baby Violet, I will someday show this to my kids, boy or girl.  Self acceptance is important, and I hope my children can learn that lesson early on.

This may very well be the last birthday I have before I become a mother, and in this next year, I hope that I can learn and grow in ways that will make me a better mother.  In ways that will make me a better wife.  In ways that will make me a better human being.  If I can do these things, I will consider my 29th trip around the sun to be a rousing success.