This is it, my last day in my thirties. Tomorrow I start my forties, yikes! I know they say that 40 is the new 30 , but I feel way too old for 30 and I have earned these wrinkles, stretch marks, and 10 extra pounds. I'm not unhappy with where I am in life or with my age.
Given the events of the last few weeks, things are turning out much differently than I thought they would as I turn 40. I'm not sure what direction my life will take professionally over the course of the next few months. Some things that I have ruled out as possible career choices: 1. Interior decorator - if you have been inside my house, you'll understand why; 2. Any type of professional athlete - again, self explanatory; 3. Dog trainer - refer back to my post containing the list of all of the things my dog has eaten and this will make sense.
I've learned alot in my 40 years and forgotten alot, too. My kids teach me new things almost daily. I've also made lots of mistakes. Those, too, have been good teachers. I try to live without regrets because they really don't help with anything, but, like most people, I have a few. Short hair in the 7th grade - huge mistake. So was spending the day with a boy instead of with my high school girlfriends at a Christmas party in 12th grade. Luckily, I can still claim those high school girlfriends as good friends, and I even saw many of them last weekend. And, back to my crazy dog, I definitely regret not putting him in a crate every moment that I wasn't watching him for the last year.
So tomorrow I will be 40. I might treat myself to an extra latte for the occasion. I already redeemed my free birthday latte that I get for being a Starbucks rewards member. I will feel loved by all of the wishes from my kids who have been working on surprises all week. I will also be a little sad because when my boss died 3 weeks ago, the only thing he had on his calendar for this week was a reminder about my birthday.
In lieu of a big party, my sweet husband and I are going to finally get out of town in a couple of weeks for a kid-free weekend. My marriage is one of my greatest accomplishments of my first 40 years (potty training has also served me well for most of my life, thanks mom). I had to actually make myself a cup of coffee this afternoon so that I could stay awake for a night out with a few girlfriends. When I got home, I told Mason that I was saying my final goodnight of my 30s to him, and that one day he would remember this moment and realize that I was not so old - he will probably be 39 himself at that time.
So there it is, the next 40 will have many more lattes than the first 40. After the month I've had, I will go ahead and wish myself a happy birthday.
