Why 30 Will Knock My Socks Off

I still feel like I'm at the beginning of the first hill on a roller coaster--arms up, anticipation growing by the second, not sure when I should start holding my breath, and excited about the downhill slopes, loops and spirals that await me. When I was younger, I kinda always pictured 30 as old and nearing the end of the ride--still fun but with smaller hills and thrills and just kind of comfortably coasting along. But the older I get, the more I realize that we don't just ride the ride, we create it. So here's to making my own roller-coaster and deciding when I get to start feeling old!

30 Reasons Why Turning 30 is Gonna Rock:

1. I get to check a new age group box on forms.
2. I get to say, “I remember when I was in my 20's...”
3. I still have 2 years to prepare for what Good Morning America considers to be the ideal age for a woman to get married (which also happens to be the age at which a woman reaches her sexual peak... hmm, coincidence?).
4. I have stopped trying to find myself and started creating myself.
5. I can write my age as "XXX" in Roman Numerals.
6. The Mishna Brura explains that a 30-year-old is "humble and broken-hearted, and can pray sincerely from the heart."
7. I can run for Congress and in 5 years, I can run for President.
8. It is more exciting to say “I am 30″ than “I am 29 or 31.″
9. I can celebrate BIG for this birthday... which means bigger presents too, right??
10. "I may be thirty, but I'll always be flirty." - Dane Peddigrew
11. Old enough to gamble, young enough to make 3-hour midweek trips to do so even when I have to be at work at 8 the following morning.
12. Getting hit on by 25-year old men never felt so good.
13. Getting a traffic ticket doesn't mean I have to live on Top Ramen for a couple months. Being 30 means not having to live paycheck to paycheck or donate plasma in order to go to a Backstreet Boys concert.
14. I can get discounts on purchasing hair dye in bulk for the 6-week reapplication to cover grays.
15. I am still young and healthy enough to get pretty good deals on life insurance.
16. All the life lessons I learned in my 20's, I can now apply to my life.
17. Don’t have to worry about being 30 because I just AM.
18. Peak age for body building is early to mid-thirties which means I still have time to achieve top physical condition.
19. "The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." - Hervey Allen
20. 30 is the new 20.
21. Rashbam explains that at age 30 one is "worthy of leadership."
22. People naturally take you more seriously when you are in your 30's.
23. I can reminisce with others my age about how much more fabulous movies, music, and television cartoons were in the 80's.
24. I have the option of whether or not I want to live with roommates.
25. "Time and tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty." - Robert Frost
26. I am okay with declining dates with guys I know I have no interest in.
27. The Talmud declares: "At age 30, one receives strength."
28. Instead of stressing about acne, I can stress about wrinkles and gray hair.
29. "Everything I know I learned after I was thirty". - Georges Clemenceau
30. There is only one option to not turning 30, that is death. I say, “Welcome 30!”