What a difference a decade makes

Here I sit on the eve of my 35th birthday. What. The. Hell. I prefer the term 2015, but no matter how much I deny it, I've reached my midthirties. Ugh. Rebeca likes to gloat, but really it's only 5 more months until her turn.

Where was I 10 years ago? My ex and I had broken up at the end of May. She had bought us Indigo Girls tickets for my birthday and so we still went with our friends. Night o' hell for sure. I barely remember the concert, delving very deeply into whatever liquid happy i could get my hands on. That whole summer sucked ass.

Then October came around. I was enjoying being single, living in my own apartment for the first time in my life. It was fantastic not having anyone to answer to, just going out with MY friends. (I took a break from OUR friends in order to heal.) I was drinking vodka tonics like a fish and surviving on barbeque wings from Blackjack Pizza. My computer sat on a cooler and I owned one pot and a 1 cup rice cooker.

I met Rebeca toward the end of October and we were rarely apart from then on. We could go out and have 5 or 6 beers before even feeling buzzed. Now if I have 1, I'm ready for bed. :) We both smoked, me Marlboro lights, and her Camel lights. I was still driving Veronica my '95 Saturn who I adored. I was managing a bookstore by day and drinking a lot by night. It was a fun time for sure. I was nearly always broke and once was "saved" when I found a $20 bill on the floor of a bar.

And now, here we are. Two children. Rarely drinking. Never smoking. We stay at home on Friday nights and usually Saturday nights too. We're still usually broke, but in a different way. Back then I could stretch $11 to last me a week. *sigh* How come every year older also means more expensive?

Tomorrow we'll celebrate by going out for a lunch of dim sum. *mmmmm* Different decade, different life. But it's still a good one. :)