So I turned thirty on the 2nd. I've been excited about this birthday for quite some time.. I've set alot of goals for myself to accomplish "by the age of 30" and it's been fun to evaluate where I'm at.. Thanks for all the calls, cards, cakes, flowers given by family and friends. The kids were all home sick so it was kind of a hard day, but all of the well wishes made it easier. And thanks to my dear husband for fulfilling my birthday request... he vacuumed/cleaned my car!! I know, kind of lame, but it's the one thing that I never get to often enough and I love to have it clean.. Albeit for about 1 day until the kids get in the car. And thanks to my ultra hip little sis for telling me about the "Saturn Return" of life, I had never heard of it so I included a definition below found on Wikipedia. Although I'm not quite "mature" or "wise" I am officially an adult! (Or as Ammon says a badult).....
The Saturn Return is an astrological phenomenon that occurs at the ages of 27-30, 58-60, and finally from 86-88, coinciding with the time it takes the planet Saturn to make one orbit around the sun. It is believed by astrologers that as Saturn "returns" to the degree in which it occupied at the time of birth -- approximately every 29.5 years -- a person crosses over a major threshold and into the next stage of life. With the first Saturn Return, a person leaves youth behind and enter adulthood. With the second Return, maturity. And the third and usually final Return, a person enters wise old age.
The first Saturn Return is famous because it represents the first test of character and the structures a person has built their lives upon. According to traditions, should these structures be unsound or that a person is living out of touch with his or her true values, the Saturn Return will be a time of upheaval and limitations as Saturn forces him or her to jettison old concepts and worn out patterns of living. It is not uncommon for relationships and jobs to end during this time of life restructuring and reevaluation.
But the Saturn Return is not all about painful endings. During this time astrologers note that goals are consolidated and people tend to gain a better vision of where they are going in life. There are added responsibilities and a person may reap the rewards from his or her hard work. Many major life milestones seem to happen around the ages of 29 and 30. This is why astrologers believe that the thirtieth birthday is such a major rite of passage because it marks the true beginning of adulthood, self-evaluation, independence, ambition, and self actualization.
P.S. The old me would have tried unrelentlessly to have all of the kids sit in a row, cute as could be for a nice bday pic.... poor Ammon was 103 at that point, and the girls... well they're the girls... let's just say I'm learning to embrace the chaos and I'm loving it...
