25 years

Today is my 25th birthday. I'm now a quarter century old! I can rent a car, adopt a cat, and be generally considered a responsible adult. (My opinions on "responsible adulthood" being pushed back to 25 are another topic entirely!) I am halfway to thirty ... that's a sobering thought.

Where have those 25 years gone? Let's see.

As a baby, I specialized in eating and sleeping. Apparently I also enjoyed snuggling.
When I was one, I lived in Virginia. Before I turned two, I was baptized and have been a Catholic ever since.
When I was two, we moved to Mississippi. I had a lot of cats.
When I was three, I tried to flush a diaper down the toilet (my earliest memory) and traveled through California to Washington State. I remember Texas. It was very empty.
When I was four, I lived in an apartment with a view of a highway (I loved watching the lights at night) and learned to read. I watched Star Trek every night. Then we moved to our first house.
When I was five, I slept with a stuffed cat named Tiger (and continued doing so for many years after that).
When I was six, I got my first pixie cut and was the flower girl in my aunt's wedding.
When I was seven, I received my first communion and lost my two front teeth.
When I was eight, I was best friends with the little boy next door and enjoyed playing X-Men in our yards.
When I was nine, I started public school. At first I liked it, but then I didn't.
When I was ten, I changed to a private school. I did not like it.
When I was eleven, I was still in private school and got picked on a lot.
When I was twelve, I campaigned to be homeschooled again, and got my wish. I even got homeschooled friends in the mix, which was awesome.
When I was thirteen, I sang in a choir, made friends with a boy for the first time since I was eight, and kept a detailed journal.
When I was fourteen I went to boarding school, but I kinda broke all the rules.
When I was fifteen, I was still in boarding school, but I started doing everything exactly right, as best I could. I also had a baby brother.
When I was sixteen, I got kicked out of boarding school. I went to Bermuda and Victoria, B.C., as my family's free babysitter. Let me tell you, it's the best way to travel. Free, and lots of fun.
When I was seventeen, I took community college courses and found them much easier than I had expected. Physics was way fun.
When I was eighteen, I went to college and fell in love.
When I was nineteen, he liked me back.
When I was twenty, I went to Rome.
When I was twenty-one, I got involved in college life (finally) and sang in an amazing choir.
When I was twenty-two, I taught Latin and grammar at a small school, lived with a roommate in our very own apartment (!), got engaged, and missed John.
When I was twenty-three, I got married.
When I was twenty-four, I was a mom, and liked it.
When I was twenty-five, I ...

Well, I guess time will tell what I do with the next twenty-five years!