The beginning of the end...

I have always known that this day was coming...

I was just sort of hoping that it wouldn't.

Today is the first day of the last year of my twenties.

*pause for moment of silence*

Yep. It's my birthday and I am twenty-four twenty-nine years old.

I have always loved my birthday. I mean, it's a whole day in which people celebrate my very existence and give me presents.

What could be better?

*head shake*

I'm sorry...what were we talking about?

Oh yes, my birthday. When I was a child, my summer birthday sort of bummed me out. For one thing I never got to celebrate at school. Also, since my dad was in the military, we moved a lot and usually during the summer. I didn't really have a whole lot of birthday parties as a child and the ones I did have were usually at my grandmother's house with my cousins. But my parents did try to make those parties special.

When I turned five, I had a purple surprise party. Purple was (and still is) my favorite color and my family threw me a purple themed party. Cake, party hats, decorations...everything was purple! I loved it! This turned out to be the only birthday picture I could find of myself.

After many years of not really having birthday parties, I decided to take matters into my own hands and throw myself a party. So when I turned sixteen, I requested permission (at the last minute)to have a few friends over to celebrate. My dad gave me $20 to buy chips and cokes. Later that night, he and my mom went out to grab dinner with the understanding that they were coming straight home afterwards. When they pulled on to our street, my father's first thought was that someone else in the neighborhood was having a party too because both sides of the street were lined with cars. Then they walked in the front door and found about 60 kids in our house!

Since we weren't being too rowdy, my parents just told me to clean up when it was over and went up to bed. But in the morning my dad told me that the next time I wanted to have "a few friends" over, I was going to have to specify just how many "a few" was!

The next exciting, milestone birthday I celebrated was my 21st. That one was fun for the obvious reasons. And since my mom reads my blog, I won't share any stories about that!

After 21, I guess I blinked and there went my twenties!

I don't now how I got here so fast. This is my last birthday as a twenty-something! But even though I am slightly depressed about the number, this is still a birthday and I love birthdays! I especially love the presents! And since it would be lame to give myself a present, I am going to give one of you a present!

That's right, one lucky reader is going to win a $30 gift card to my favorite store:

For you first entry? Wish me a happy twenty fourth 29th birthday!

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This contest is open for today only! The winner will be picked using random.org at 11:59pm EST.