Today is my 32nd birthday.

I don’t know how that happened.  Yesterday I was 21, complaining about turning 22.  Actually, at the ripe ol’ age of 21 and 3/4 I told my friends that I would NOT be turning 22, but instead I would be turning 21B, and then 21C, and then 21D – and so on – for the rest of my life.  I had planned to stay some deviation of 21 years old until I finally expired.  One of my best friends actually still refers to my birthdays in letters, instead of numbers.

I’m not sure why I wanted to stay 21 back then because, looking back, I certainly would not want to be that age again.  I did do some pretty cool things at 21, though.  I met Louise Post when she walked into a bar and asked me if I wanted to join Veruca Salt.  Instead, I put that off for a year and I released my own band’s first record in the meantime.  That was also the year a music magazine called me “One of the Best Voices in modern rock today.”  At 21, I played some of the most fun shows of my career, with my most favorite bandmate.  Okay, well, I guess it makes sense now why I wanted to stay that age.

But I’m happy to be a decade older.  I certainly feel a decade wiser.  As much as I thought, in my younger days, that music would always be my career, I grew tired of the instability, and I feel quite lucky to have I escaped that lifestyle.  I’ve got grown-up career goals these days, with grown-up peers, and a grown-up partner.  I’ve also tapped into a tribe of women that keep me informed, engaged, and connected to something bigger that me; bigger than all of us.  I’ve found my niche, and it’s so much more powerful and valuable to me than whatever minor rock stardom I experienced as a kid of 21.

On Friday I asked my readers to give me one birthday present – a few minutes of their time to take a survey.  Well, you responded, and you responded BIG.  Over 503 of you (and counting) took that survey in the last three days.  That humbles me. And it tickles me.  And overall, it was exactly what I wanted for my birthday – so Thank You.

But the Hyphenated Husband took it a step further.  He surprised me Friday with an embroidered polo shirt & hat sporting The Feminist Breeder logo.  I was stunned, both by its sheer Awesome-Awesomeness, and also by the care he put into buying me something he knew I’d really get a kick out of.  Overall, it is by far the most thoughtful and surprising gift he’s ever given me.

And that is worth turning a year older for.