30 years minus seven days.

One week until my 29*th birthday.  So far I'm coping well.  (Not an entirely true statement.)

This looming event brought up a recent discussion of Adult "Developmental Milestones."  Everyone has their own set of things they had planned to accomplish by their thirtieth birthday.  It's different for everyone in a few aspects, but most people give a variation of the same top four.

1. Be married.

2. Have a career.

3. Have children.

4. Buy a home.

Not necessarily in that order, but a general consensus is that people would like to have accomplished at least two of these....if not all, and most do.

Personally, I'm a bit below the standard deviation for these amongst my peers.  I'm not saying I'm not a successful person.  I'm well on my way to a career, but there is still some uncertainty.  And...well.. that concludes my steps through the adult milestones.  It's silly to judge oneself based on their peers, but frankly what the heck am I going to judge myself on otherwise?

I've also recently been informed that the dreaded big 30 is a bit cultural and this birthday isn't as frightening in other countries. Who knows what makes this a big deal for me, but I'm offered no solace by this "cultural" definition. Maybe it was Sex in the City that ruined my outlook on the beginning of the fourth decade of my life. Maybe it was growing up in a town where most people have "been there done that" by the time they are thirty. Maybe it's the estrogenous ticking time bomb of knowing that my eggs are frying and mutating at an exponential rate. Or it could be that little noise people make when they say "Oh, you're turning thirty." (You know something comparable to that sigh of sadness when you give condolences after a pet dies.)

My conclusion..I shall turn 29* gracefully next week and put off the big 30 until I hit the 50th percentile of my peer group for developmental milestones....Think of it like holding back a child a grade level because they need more time to learn their multiplication tables.

11 days until I ship my favorite Eur/asian back to a land where 30th birthdays don't come with life evaluation and little old ladies asking if you are barren (obviously the only reason you wouldn't have kids at this point.)