Have you ever had a weekend that was so good it felt like a vacation?  Where you slept in until 11 AM one morning but didn’t even care because the only thing on your schedule for that morning was “sleep”?  A weekend with good food, meandering afternoons, and too many smiles to count?

I really hope so, because I just did and it was everything I ever dreamed it could be.  It was a total windfall too, which actually made it even better.  Wes was supposed to help out at a conference all weekend but ended up giving me an early birthday gift by coming home.

We spent Saturday afternoon washing our windows and running errands together, but the rest of the weekend was gravy.  Cold margaritas out on the deck, lazy conversations while making dinner together, clothes shopping (hooray!), going to see a movie, sleeping in until 10, and a huge and delicious breakfast every morning.  It honestly felt like being on vacation.

I’ve never been a “staycation” adherent.  Home is usually where I do the work I don’t get paid to do but don’t want to pay others to do for me, so I’ve never really considered it a viable vacation option.  That has definitely changed.  This weekend was definitely a vacation even though we didn’t go anywhere.  We had the best time just hanging out at home with plans or agenda.

Of course, getting to go clothes shopping and getting some really cute new summer clothes certainly didn’t hurt things, nor did the completely amazing barbecue Wes’ family put on for us.  The fun phone calls I received from my family, the doting attention of the man who may be is the absolute best husband ever born, and unabashedly delicious weather all combined to create the best birthday weekend I think I’ve ever had.

Sure, I’m now solidly in my mid-twenties.  I’ve had to leave my early twenties behind along with my dream of ever being an Olympic gymnast.  I’ll never again be able to blame my foibles on being in my early twenties, nor will I ever have skin as nice as this.

But!  What I will have is way better.  I’ll have more work experience so I won’t make so many dumb mistakes.  I’ll have a stable, thriving marriage and a house I’ve grown to appreciate more than I ever thought I would.  If I’m very lucky I’ll have children I can raise and teach and love to pieces, and if I play my cards just right I may someday have the ability to call someone a whippersnapper without sounding ironic.

In answer to the question you never asked, yes.  I was freaking out a little about entering my mid-twenties.  It just felt like the next step, and I was pretty comfy and didn’t really feel ready for any more step taking.  Thanks to a weekend filled with people telling me how much they love me, though, I’m thinking a lot less about the number and a lot more about the life attached to it.  It’s a good one, I think I’ll keep it.  Even if it means relinquishing my youth one year at a time.