my 30th birthday celebration in Seattle

This past Friday night I had a birthday gathering so I could celebrate my 30th birthday with friends in Seattle since I was gone on my actual birthday. I met up with friends at The Garage, which is a bar/pool hall/bowling alley.

On my way to The Garage, I got a flat tire right after I got off the Interstate and was only a few blocks away. It must have happened pretty suddenly because when I started going when a traffic light turned green, it immediately felt weird. Unfortunately, it is always hard to find a parking spot in that neighborhood, and I had to drive for a few blocks before I could really pull over. I pulled into the IHOP parking lot right around the corner from The Garage, and before I even got out of the car, a random guy walking by (with a puppy in his backpack, btw) stopped and offered to help me out and put on my spare tire. The tire was flat as a pancake, and the rim was smoking!! Yikes!! This guy totally took over and changed my tire. He was so kind. I wanted to offer him a little bit of money to thank him, but all I had was a 20 dollar bill. I thanked him more than once, and I hope that was enough! He looked like he could maybe use some money, but I couldn't totally tell. Anyway, my friend Tanya had called me when she didn't see me at the bar, and she came and met up with me where my car was. When the spare was on, we had to go fill it up with air because it was actually really low as well, so she came along to a gas station a couple of blocks away where I filled up the tire and then we found a parking spot. I ended up being half an hour later than I said I was going to be at the bar.

Apparently I just missed Danny & Alison, who got there about 15 minutes before I did and left right about when I got there. My friends that were already at the bar were friends they didn't know, and they didn't have a cell phone to call me, so they went home. I guess Alison was feeling sick anyway. That was too bad. It ended up being about 12 of us. It was sort of a random grouping of my friends from work, the Mennonite group, and various other connections. It was a good time. We ate, drank, and bowled a couple of games. I was on fire on my second game and got a final score of 121! Woohoo!! Not my highest score ever (which was about 175 one time - completely freakish luck that time), but definitely a rare bit of luck and skill. My birthday bowling fortune.

I have to say that turning 30 for me has been pretty good. I was actually more freaked out when I turned 29 (you know, starting to think about the biological clock and everything). I think the difference for me this year is that I am in a better place emotionally even than I was a year ago, and I am dating people, and feeling more hopeful about my future. I am feeling more confident and attractive than I ever have in my life. I think age is good on a woman in that way. So, even though I am not in a serious relationship right now, and I don't have any immediate possibilities for that at the moment, I am still feeling like my dream of marrying someone and having a family is not as far-fetched as it seemed last year. It also helps to have people I know (guys in particular) who totally agree with that. :)