It's a Bird...It's a Plane...No, it's...

I dig Superheroes.

Throughout this past year, Superheroes have crept into my life a lot more than usual. Perhaps it's happening all over the United States since films are re-appearing featuring our favorite comic book characters. Two Spiderman movies introduced me to the world of web making. Batman Begins chronicled the foundation of Batman, showing that money also posseses super powers. The new Superman movie, just released on Wednesday, revealed what happens after Superman left Lois Lane to try and find his home. Returning to my apartment after the Superman movie, I discovered in the mail a Wonder Woman shirt my mom bought me.

The Superheroes fascinate me on many levels. You have amazing story lines as characters struggle with being normal in a world while also possessing powers. A friend of mine explained to me that often their alter egos are truly the characters that they want to be. Superheroes cannot rest, very rarely not wanting to resist a call of help. In the new movie, Superman traveled to many continents all in one night rescuing people and providing hope for the communities. Not only are Superheroes amazing for their committment to restore justice and equality, but they also have the ability to fly, jump from building to building, hear everything, and hold large items. However, there is the drawback that "With great power comes great responsibility." The weight of the world is on their shoulders, both figuratively and literaly. Where was I for the last quarter of a century of my life to not be influenced by Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, or Batman?

In my new search, I took a poll to figure out which superhero I am. Here are my results:
Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man 100% Superman 95% The Flash 80% Wonder Woman 75% Spider-Man 70% Robin 65% Green Lantern 65% Supergirl 60% Catwoman 45% Batman 40% Hulk 40%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

I am resisting this Superhero, wanting to have a more well known figure to connect with. Beth says that this is my first step of being a Superhero, to resist who I am and not be willing to face it. I will continue with this struggle. Until then I am Super Sara...aunt, seminarian, volunteer, nerd, daughter, and friend.

A Quarter of a Century

My life is now worth 25 cents if your years equalled one penny. On Friday, June 9th, I turned 25 years old, completing my quarter of a cenutry turn with ease and great fun. My birthday has never really been that big of a deal for me, probably because I was always at ASP or all of my friends were gone on vacation. However, this year, my friends took on the challenge of giving me the best birthday experiences (yes plural) ever! Not only were these days of fun and excitement, but it also showed me how much my friends really knew who I was. Let's review the weekend...

Saturday June 3rd
Ladies' Weekend in Charlotte, NC with my college ladies Emma, Jean, Brittney, and Melissa. Much to my surprise that evening we have a birthday party - better known as a surprise birthday party. To plan for the event, my friends had to bank on the fact that I would be willing to volunteer to walk the dog and go to the grocery store...all things that I volunteered to do with much excitement. I'm so predictable! The party involved chocolate cake (a must for me), girly drinks, laughter, and Sex in the City. It was a lovely night and a great kick off to my week of birth!

Friday June 9th
At the request of my Atlanta group of ladies (Candace, Dana and Beth), I return to the apartment around noon and we set off for our adventures. To add to the element of surprise, I am blindfolded between each of our stops and asked a series of birthday questions so that I won't figure out where we are going next. The questions were wonderful (see Dana's blog for more details www.well-yah.blogspot.com) and made me really reflect upon the year in funny and serious ways. Our first stop was Dairy Queen where I ate a foot long chili, cheese and mustard hot dog and had a hot fudge sundae. A tiara was placed on my head as we traveled to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History for the Chocolate exhibit (my personal heaven) and to play with the huge baths of bubbles. Our next stop took us downunder to an Austrailian Bakery in East Atlanta. We ate our snacks as we sat in front of a picture of Sydney...the place that I most wanted to visit this year for my birthday. Finally, we ended up at Agnes and Muriel's for a lovely dinner and great laughter and conversation. The day was adventorous, fun, childlike, adult-y, creative, and fun!

Sunday, June 11th
All birthdays must come to an end and mine finally did a week and a half after first starting the celebration. My Atlanta friends gathered together at Candace's house to enjoy chocolate cake and lasagna (do we notice a theme here yet?). One of my favorite birthday presents was revealed as Jay played a song that he and Dana had written for me. One day when I figure out how to post songs, I will put it on here. Or maybe I'll just post the lyrics. It was hilarious and made me cry because I was laughing so hard!

My birthday this year was wonderful as friends, both old and new, gathered around to show me how much they loved me. I'm not so sure that I could have thought of a better way to celebrate my quarter of a century of life. It's amazing to have the kinds of friends who know you so well that conversations and laughter flow regardless of the time spent apart or the other parts of life that consistently tug at your heart and call for your attention. I love them all and am constantly grateful that they are around in my life.