I turn 35 in a few days...and I think it's going to be one of those things that doesn't hit me until it's actually here. I didn't have a problem when I turned 30. I don't think I really thought about it until I was 31, and someone said, "Well now you are IN your 30s."
That was a somewhat sobering thought.
I have never been the kind of person to make a list of things to achieve by a certain age. But there are things that I'd like to accomplish, and the realization that I have only so much time to do it in was a big one. So what have I done since the gobsmacking realization that I'm not 'a kid' anymore?
I went back to school. Got through the first year with flying colors and rediscovered my love of learning. I will get a second bachelor's degree with in the next year and a half, will apply, and get accepted into a Master's program. I will earn that Master's degree and continue on to a PhD.
I lost 40 lbs. I am at my ideal weight for the first time since I had my now 9 year old son. I need to tone, to gain endurance, but I am healthier than I have ever been.
I picked up knitting and crocheting again, with an eye on learning new techniques and skills. I was thrilled to find people who thought I do good work. Flattered that others with far more experience were impressed with what I can do, which is making me work on harder and harder pieces.
In the last year, I lost...not a friend, because sadly, I was not able to get to know her better...but an acquaintence who I admired and will always think of fondly. She was young, but had this energy and attitude that just couldn't help but make you smile. She was interested in EVERYTHING. Her death made me stop a moment and remember again that having goals meant nothing if you didn't try to reach them. She had a love of belly dancing - something I have always wanted to learn. So in her honor/memory, and to feed my own natural curiosity, I took her advice and have been learning through videos on youtube. I hope someday to take classes.
I am anticipating 35 to be just another year. Another step on a journey that really has no end. I hope that it is one filled with new ideas, new adventures, new and old friends. We'll see if I have that "Oh crap, I'm old" moment this weekend.
35 wasn't a big deal to me, but I'm dreading turning 36 in a couple of months. I think it's a combination of the number and where I am in my life. Circumstances have me shifting from being an independent adult to back to living with my parents. I'm worried about the transition and trying to maintain my adult status. It's so easy to slip back into parent/child roles when I spend too much time with Mom and Dad. But that's all my baggage.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a fantastic birthday weekend! It sounds like you've already done a lot to enrich your life. Nothing but good times ahead!
It's so hard to have to depend on your parents as an adult! In any fashion. Mine live 2 blocks from me, and since hubby & I are a single car household, I'm forever begging to borrow the car. Talk about flashbacks to HS.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Becky. :)
Errmmm, have you started echoing certain lines as heard by parental units the world over yet and then thought "Eeeekkk, I'm turning into my Mum/Dad."
ReplyDeleteIt happened to me when I've put the music channels on and I've uttered "What the hell is this cr@p?"
Hope that you have a cracking time and get the most out of it, you deserve it. Oh and I upset my sister a couple of years ago when i said "Happy Quarter of a Century." Just remember it hits harder than happy 25th. LOL
35 isn't too bad, but as Becky has said it's when you're the wrong side and you're nearer 40 than 30 that you start to worry.
I have the urge to say you're just a wee whipper-snapper. You are, you know, and you will do many more marvellous things.
ReplyDeleteThus sayeth the oracle (me) who is much much older than you are. :)
Happy early birthday! I can't believe what you've done in the last few years. That's awesome! Good luck with the rest of school and with all of your new adventures. If we lived closer, I would SO take belly dancing lessons with you! ;)
ReplyDeleteDros, my mom found a sign that says "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all." It sadly fits me very well somedays. :)
ReplyDeleteDiane - thanks. :) I try to take that view of things. I can't be old if I looked at my grandparents and didn't see them as old.
Dani - belly dancing with you would be a blast! I'm still hoping just to be out that way next year.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. :)
Congrats to you on all your accomplishments. Turning 35 is not such a big deal, unless you make it one. It sounds like you're definitely trying to do everything that you want to do. I hope you enjoy your birthday. Don't stress the age thing, just enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with Danni & Jax on the bellydancing-I've always wanted to do that, just wish I had bigger boobs so I'd look as sexy as those bellydancers on tv. :)
I so wish I could go back to school! I have a second bachelor's degree already...but I would love to get my masters...I envy you!
ReplyDeleteWow, I really admire you. Going back to school...I toy with that idea, but then again, I have trouble finding time for everything I do now. Congrats on the losing 40 pounds...I think it found its way to me. I hit 31 this week. And you're right, it was worse than 30. Way to go, and good luck with everything!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on all you've accomplished.
ReplyDeleteCan I just say that I never feel old until people a few years younger than me start complaining about how they are getting old? I look at myself and say "WTF? I didn't think I was old. Shit. What am I supposed to do now?" LOL
As for the death in question, I think that hit a lot of us in more ways than we care to think about too deeply. I'm glad you've found an outlet with the belly-dancing. She would have been proud of you :)