Thirty -- the number of times I've snuck out of the house when I was a teenager.

Thirty -- the number of days in September.

Thirty -- the number of shoes I kept AFTER the last massive overhaul I did.

Thirty -- the number of times I cut school during my senior year of high school.

Thirty... I'm gonna be thirty in a few weeks. It doesn't feel any different than when I was turning twenty. But things are TRULY different. My life at twenty and my life today... let's just say that I am a better person today. I've endured my fair share of struggles... but they didn't seem like struggles. They were hard times but I have this ENDURING belief in GOOD. I don't really HARP on something bad for too long. If I'm hurt, I just get right back up and keep doin' my thing! Like one of those inflatable cartoon characters... no matter how much you punch it, it just pops right back up. That's me! LOL...

So, YES! I'm gonna be thirty on August 4th. I'm not quite where I thought I'd be but I'm grateful for where I am. Where am I? I'm not yet a mother but I am a wife... twice over. My first husband decided he wanted to divorce me... and I kindly obliged him. I didn't want to be with a man that didn't want to be with me. It was hard. WAS! But like I said... I bounce right back. So I'm on marriage number two. I clown myself by saying that the ink wasn't even dry from the divorce and I was already signing the marriage certificate for the second husband. LOL... It's true. I married my current husband just six months after my divorce was final.

Yes, thirty is right around the corner. I was thinking of throwing a birthday party for myself, being that I have no children to spend money on... and I kinda just like to spend money on myself. So I was thinking I'd have a dinner on the day OF my birthday... just family. Then on the weekend following my birthday, I'll have a little bash at some Karaoke joint. EVERYONE loves karaoke... even folks who claim they don't sing. It'll be fun. A friend of mine is telling me to DO IT... and I think I'm going to. I've talked it over with hubby and he's kinda excited about it.

I'm getting comfortable with the idea of being thirty... there's nothing REALLY new about it. Just another day, right? WRONG! HERE are some intersting things that happened on August 4th.
In 1789, the feudal system is abolished in France.
In 1901, Louis Armstrong was born.
In 1914, World War I: the UK declares war on Germany.
In 1955, Billy Bob Thornton was born.
In 1961, Barack Obama was born.
In 1993, a federal judge sentences two LAPD officers to prison for 30 months for violating Rodney King's civil rights. Okay, maybe nothing REALLY important happened on that day except, of course, for my entrance into the world in 1975. **giggles**

Thirty... thirty years old. I've been on this planet for thirty years. What have I done with myself? What is my gift to the world? You know folks, I define myself as I go. I don't exactly know what my purpose is... aside from me preparing to meet my maker... I don't know what impact I have on the world we live in. I strive to be a loving person because I truly believe that WHAT you put into the universe affects EVERYTHING and I like to be surrounded by people who love me. I could give the whole play by play for every single year of my life. I could dig up old journal entries from my personal diary... but they will all pretty much say the same thing... that I am A WOMAN IN PROGRESS.

Thirty is a long time yet I still feel as young as I did when I was fourteen, sitting in the bleachers at my brothers football games... cheering my heart out. My older brother is in Michigan, married with three beautiful children. I miss him like crazy.... just because we have ALWAYS been VERY close. We're not kids anymore arguing over the remote. We're grown now and we discuss HEAVY issues with each other. And I'm very grateful to have been blessed with such a fine example of what a man should be... my brother!

Thirty... on August 4th, it'll be thirty days since I last smoked a cigarette. I have no idea why I picked up such a nasty habit but I did... and hopefully I'm done. I feel so much healthier without those tobacco sticks. There are so many reasons to quit smoking. My top five reasons...
1) I hate the stench that comes with smoking.
2) It kills my vocal chords so when someone asks me to sing... I can't.
3) A year ago, the doctor advised me to stop smoking so that I can conceive.
4) It's so unhealthy.
5) It's just too damn expensive!

So I'm gonna be thirty folks.
I'm happy.
I'm grateful for my family.
I'm excited about life... I always have been.
I'm making good changes...
And I'm basically turning into the woman I thought I always wanted to be.