Tuesday, May 14, 2013

This Is Somewhere Between 35 & 40



To chill out last weekend my husband and I decided to watch This Is 40. Can you say ego boost for the marriage? Sure we’ve had our fights, taken and thrown our share of verbal punches, but man, we began to feel like we belong on top of wedding cakes after watching that movie. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated some of the gut-real honesty in the comedy (?) and actually, I’m grateful it made us thankful for what we have.

Instead of continuing down this road of reflection, I thought I’d steer us in another direction today.

The movie did a great job of nailing some universal relationship blunders and comedic episodes. It also got me thinking about a typical day in the Miller abode.

And now you get to laugh at my expense.

A Day in the Life of This 37-year-old

This is 37…

Brush teeth only to squint when I notice the underside of my Olive Oyl upper arm swinging like a hammock

Wince at the unfortunate inbreeding of clothing spreading across my bedroom floor with the tenacity of kudzu

Apply makeup, confused why my eyelashes keep falling out above one eye

Race around to pack three lunches, dress for work, supply dog with food and water, and write five sticky notes—things I’m supposed to remember

Huh, that’s weird, when I put on my jeans the button popped off

Text husband sweet nothings (and sometimes nothing when I forget)

Order book from Amazon for next book club

Shoot an email to parents from daughter’s class (but end up spending over an hour hunting for where I stored their email addys)

Cringe when I bypass the toilet I refuse to clean because we’ll be getting a new one with the upcoming home reno

Clear dishes, pick up stray articles of clothing, wipe down counters (times each by 20 and you get the picture)

Count another “scrape” (as my daughter calls them) on my forehead when I look in the mirror

Listen to a chorus of “That’s not fair” and “She started it”

Pick a weed or two from the thousands infiltrating our flower beds

Drive girls from here to kingdom come (or rather until my butt goes numb)

Ask husband for tenth time this year if I’m 37 or 38. Have him help girls with math homework

Cook dinner and something with the color green in it so I can say I’m feeding the family healthy foods

Write, read, run, paint, or some combo of all four to preserve my sanity

Look for sticky notes I wrote earlier for twenty minutes only to find them stuck to the bottom of the recycle bag, saturated with milk and therefore illegible

Write new sticky notes

Kiss girls goodnight and smell their heads (this is a mom must)

Do something people call sleep but I’m not sure it counts because I wake up at the slightest sound and my kids have active imaginations like their mother (you know, the did I turn everything off? and what will I do if…that parade through my mind at night) so they like to visit for midnight cuddles

My kids aren’t the only ones who like midnight “cuddles.” Take care of him. Love how he takes care of me. (In-laws, pretend you didn’t read that.)

Count my big fat blessings.

Wake up and do some version of the above all over again.
~
Conclusion: This is exactly where I want to be right now. I love my age. Here's to 37!

Are you at peace with your age?


22 comments:

  1. Loved this! I'm about to turn 33, and I've enjoyed my thirties. I think in my twenties I felt like I had something to prove. I'm more comfortable in my skin than I used to be.

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    1. I agree, it's exhilarating to feel my comfortable in my skin. I just kept having babies in my twenties so I was mostly asleep or in a major zone.

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  2. I cried when I turned 20 because I was "old." I went into a funk when I turned 28 because in 2 years I'd be 30! Horrors! But something wonderful happened between 35 and 40. I made peace with my age. By the time I hit 40, the numbers didn't matter anymore. Now I often forget how old I actually am! (46, in case you are wondering.) And while there are many things that aren't fun about growing older, I've learned there are some really great things, too!

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    1. Reminds me of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, "And I'm gonna be 40!"

      You're a sharp 46 if you ask me!

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  3. I love how you embrace life right where you are, Wendy. You're an inspiration.

    It wasn't until I'd whizzed past 40 that I began to accept myself. I was 46 when I stepped outside my comfort zone and embraced my lifelong dream of being a writer. I'm 53 now and am more at peace with myself than ever before.

    I wish I could encourage young women to see the beauty inside themselves far earlier in life than I have. I've met so many awesome younger women with so much going for themselves, and yet it seems they have trouble seeing how terrific they are at times. Take you for example, Wendy. You're bright, beautiful, and creative as all get out. I know there are days you might not see yourself as being an amazing person, but I sure do. I'm so blessed to know you, my dear sister of the heart.

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    1. I have a passion for that--encouraging young woman to embrace who they are.

      And how cool that you took this op. to do that for me. Your words went deep, Keli (as though often do). Thank you!

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  4. I think I have a different perspective on age. I'll be 29 this year. My husband jokes, saying we've got one good year left. But you know what? Every day, every year is a blessing. My mom only lived till she was 46. Every day is precious, so age doesn't bother me. (Remind me I said that if I freak out about turning 30. Hehe.)

    I think the thing that more gets me down about age would be if I havent' achieved something I wanted to by a certain age.

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    1. I totally get your perspective. I've had a number of relationships that have shed light on how fragile life is.

      And to the point in your second paragraph. Makes sense, but I'm also learning the value of adjusting expectations. Grieving some great losses in my life taught me a lot about that--and timing is never what I think it will be.

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  5. Sometimes I think I'm older than all my friends (I don't know--maybe I am.) Then I think: Which one of these years would I give up? The year I was married? The year my first child was born? My second? Third? Fourth? The year I embraced TRUTH in my life and walked into a freedom I'd never known? The year I finally "got" grace --and understood it was lavish, not stingy? The "Wilderness Wandering" years when I learned God is who he says he is -- even when I doubt him?

    Loved having a peek at your day, my friend. (And yeah, I'm older than you.)
    :)

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    1. I love that you are older (and not for the reasons you might think). I love learning from you!

      And what a cool way to look at the idea of aging. I wouldn't give up a single second.

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  6. When I turned 50 people in my family had a ball,getting my goat about being 'old.' The Bible Study I was a part of gave me a surprise party. All the gifts had something to do with turning 50. My favorite one was a button-pin that said,'I'm too young to be this old." That was 17 years ago. I didn't start to get serious about writing until two years later. Sometimes, I feel that I am in a deep rut. But I love my husband and our son and my church family. God has been good to me.

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    1. You are an encouragement & it's cool you realized you want to be serious about writing. I think everyone goes through those "rut" stages, though seldom are people upfront and honest about it. Thankful you felt you could be here!

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  7. Sounds like a busy and great day. I'm at peace with my age too. Thirty-one has treated me very well so far. But I love how your post reminded me to notice and take joy in the small stuff in everyday life, too, not just the big things. :)

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    1. I've finally figured out it's these small moments that make up my favorite memories. It's rarely the planned and awaited events, but these little times of living.

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  8. Loved this! I literally ask my husband the same question."Am I 37 or 38?" I'm happy where I am. New challenges. New joys.

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    1. What's crazy is this is the only year I've done that. I blame Water for Elephants. There's a line in there beginning one of the chapters (maybe in the beginning) that refers to how once you get to 37 or around this age you begin to lose track. Those elephants! :D

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  9. I can relate to so many of these. I'm just a year behind you, so we're at the same stage of life. I lost track of my age several years ago, so I guess I'm an early bloomer.

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    1. Forgetting our age could work to our advantage. ;-) I like that we must not care enough to remember.

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  10. Well, as the Oldie Hawn here (42), I can say, YES, I'm at peace with my age. I've actually never been in better shape in my life and I know who I am and have a wonderful man I wouldn't trade anything for. :)

    Love that picture.

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    1. You are so making me look forward to my 40s! Thanks for being such an inspiration, JS!

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  11. Other than wishing my body would agree with my mind that I CAN paint the bedroom, garden for more than an hour, and clean the entire house in a day - Yes.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

    P.S. I won't even begin to give you an age range.

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    1. I'm expecting that stage to really throw me. I'm always hyper motivated and learning to adjust to what my body can handle will take patience...I can just imagine.

      Blessing right back at ya!

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