OMG... It's 2010.

OMG… It’s 2010.
I knew it was all over when my one of best friends from college called me and told me that she and her husband had bought a Town and Country Minivan. To make matters even worse, it was her 30th birthday present. This is the girl who drove the convertible Eclipse in college. I don’t have anything against anyone who drives a minivan. I’m sure they are practical, good on gas and so on but at the end of the day, it’s a minivan. It’s the end of an era.
I don’t think my poor best friend had any idea the impact her purchase would have on me. You see, I’m going to be 30 this year. I know, I know, I’m young. I have a lot of great things going on including a great family and my health. That doesn’t change the fact that 30 is a scary number. I still get surprised when I go out to dinner and order a glass of wine and the waiter doesn’t ask for my ID. He can’t possibly think that I’m actually legal age, right? In my mind, I stopped aging when I turned 21. When I look in the mirror in the morning, I still see that 20 year old girl with her whole life ahead of her. (Plus thirty extra pounds)
Now that I’m a Mommy a lot of things have changed. Obviously, there are a lot of great things about being a Mom including the smiles and hugs- the sense of purpose, the unending love, and the dirty diapers but I still am not sure where I belong on the social circuit anymore. I was always a very outgoing person who loved to be at the bar/club/party (anywhere that involved cocktails, music and a good time). Now, when those rare opportunities arise that I can go out, I spend a half hour staring in the mirror wondering if I’m wearing “Mom jeans” and don’t know it. I grab the extra fat around my midsection and moan in disgust. I wonder if I still have my high tolerance for dirty martini’s (for the record, I don’t) and deep down, I just wonder if it’s silly to be the party girl anymore. Most of the time I say a little prayer before I go out and ask God to please let me be able to stay up past 10 p.m.
One of Mommy friends asked me to go to a bar party with her and I eagerly agreed. We sat in a corner by ourselves and drank beers and talked about the babies. We drank more beer and talked about our families. We took Jello shots and giggled. We soon became friends with all the people around us. We decided it was a good idea to sing karaoke even though we both had made a pact and swore we wouldn’t. We sang “Like a Virgin” by Madonna. We didn’t just sing this song… We performed it with dance moves. This was always my default karaoke song in my early 20’s. It always revved up the crowd and got all the girls singing along. This time, everyone just stared at us as if we had lost our minds. There were two girls that I think actually wanted to beat us up. Then it dawned on me, perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea anymore. I had this nagging feeling that maybe; just maybe, I had to leave my past partying ways in the past. I’m just thankful that I had the common sense not to dance on the bar. It wouldn’t have been the first time…
Then came last night. New Years Eve. The big event. I had made plans months ago that a group of friends would go out to dinner in NYC and then see Blue Man Group. I thought it was the perfect mix of fun and doing something slightly grown up. My husband and I were so excited to have a night out without the diva. We dropped her off a full hour early at my brother and sister in law’s house and literally ran out the door as if we were 16 year olds getting out of detention. The night was great and we had a blast. Of course, there are parts of the evening I don’t remember (hence, the dirty martini’s) but I learned last night that there can be a happy medium. I can be a great Mommy and still a fun social butterfly.
As I finally got home at 3 a.m. the phone rang and it was my 21 year old sister. She sighed. She asked me for my Facebook password because I had apparently uploaded ridiculous pictures of myself from my Blackberry while we were out and she wanted to delete them before anyone saw. They included me with multiple New Years hats on and party favors hanging out of my mouth. She asked me why she was the 21 year old and it looked like I was the one partying too hard. I just smiled.
Bring it on 2010… I made it through the wilderness…. Somehow I made it through…. I’m totally going to sing it again at the next karaoke night.