Sweet Sixteen...

 Sixteen years ago today I was taken to the hospital by  ambulance and rushed into surgery for an emergency  C-section. My due date was October fifth but Massey couldn't wait...so in the wee morning hours of August nineteenth they pulled her tiny four pound body out of me and her journey began....at exactly 4:23 AM. She's always been an early morning riser, guess that first day stuck with her!

 Lucky for me, we have always been close. She has let me be her best friend for sixteen years  and I couldn't imagine it any other way.

 She's turned out to be a pretty terrific kid. She's not perfect but what kid is? She's a good mix of being amazingly mature  yet sweetly naive.

 I looked up the word naive and one of the definitions struck me as perfect for a good description of Massey..."Simple and credulous as a child; ingenuous."

Then I looked up the word incredulous and found another perfect description of her..."Openly straightforward or frank, candid."

Then I looked up the word candid and found my daughter was in the dictionary once again..."Unprejudiced; impartial. Open and sincere."

She has bad qualities too...sometimes she pops off at the mouth or gives me "That" look before thinking her words through carefully (I wonder all the time where on earth she gets that...hmmm?)

The ole apple doesn't roll too far from the tree.

I just wish I had been a beauty like Massey  when I was sixteen...I mean she has boobs and everything! I was a stick figure with a big mouth, a skinny boy body and a boy hair cut to match.

 It's a good thing I was funny as a kid too.

I raised two boys before I raised Massey. Boys are great too...very low maintenance and  never need tampons or eyeliner. When they are little buy them Pokemon cards, get them a PlayStation when they hit fourth grade and after that don't bother them unless you have to.

 I think they realize by middle school... most of them are going to end up being a husband one day and give up on  thinking at an early age to better their chances at getting a good looking woman to shove them down the path of life. At least when  looking over their shoulder  to say "You're right" they'll be looking at a pretty bitch.

With girls if you are lucky like me, they want you there every  moment and step of the way. You hear every detail...the good ones and the bad ones. You play referee a lot and you play the devil's advocate even more.

I'll admit women can be crazy and be the first one to say most of us are. I think it starts when we shoot a watermelon out our vagina during childbirth while our husband's all hand out cigars. That's a tough thing to get over...trust me.

So it's Massey's sweet sixteen. How did this day arrive so quickly?

I know some kid's get a stretch limo and a night on the town for their big day, Some kid's wake up to a new car in the driveway with a huge bow on it. Massey will be lucky to get the big bow.

But what's great is that she doesn't care...she's just "Super Excited" to turn sixteen. She's excited for what she should be excited about...turning SIXTEEN!!!!!

My boss is making her a triple chocolate layer cake for her big day and she is having a sleepover at  the house after we grill out.

She can be a pain and she can make my heart sing. She can make my day or make my day  really long.
She can make me smile or she can make me cry. As long as she can remember I love her, it's all good.

Happy Birthday, Massey Ann Cotton!!!