I'm 40 years old. There, I said it.
Most don't know it, but turning 40 was tougher than I was wiling to admit and I spent a few days in what I can only describe as a depression. I did discuss this with one friend and told her that it feels almost like a break-up and so I was only going to allow my melancholic mood to last four days; one for each decade now behind me. And sure enough, I was back to my sarcastic, mostly chipper mood on day five.
So now that that's over, I can look back at my 30s with a combination of pride, satisfaction, great joy, great sadness, and most important of all, with a chuckle for some of the uniquely nutty/dumb things I've done that can only be described as Classic Christy. My reflections on the last decade of my life are provided here for your reading pleasure in no a bulleted summary in no particular order.
- After seven years, I left my job at Morgan Stanley, a company from which I never thought I'd leave.
- I started a job at Howard Rice where I thought I'd be for two to three years max. I stayed almost nine.
- I added a person to my platinum circle which anyone who really knows me knows that you’d be more likely to win the lotto than get added to this circle. I hope Gail finds Meghan and Jessica to be good company because this is an honored position. Anyone who can call Gail their friend should consider themselves one of the luckiest people to ever walk this Earth. Trust me, it’s the truth.
- I graduated from both law school and business school although I didn't attend either of the graduation ceremonies.
- I bought a condo and found out that it can be both stressful and expensive to be a homeowner while it can also provide an comforting sense of home.
- Along the same line, I spent the first couple of years remodeling during which I managed to paint the teeny-tiny bathroom 11 times and the bedroom 8 times.
- I've painted every wall (including the 12-foot ceilings), stripped a wall worth of horrible grasscloth wallpaper, and ripped off 80% of the baseboards. I’ve replaced most of the baseboards and hope to finish the rest sometime before I turn 50.
- I've killed countless plants.
- I’ve learned a lot about landscaping.
- I bought my fourth car and it lasted me longer than all the cars before. I loved my VW Passat and I still miss it.
- I bought a shitty new car. What car you ask? A 2009 Toyota Camry. I’d write more, but I’m still completely pissed that I didn’t go with my instinct and buy another Volkswagen. I’ll never buy anything but a German car again.
- I bought my shitty Camry from an even shittier dealership in Redwood City. Toyota 101 is so sleazy that I’m shocked they can do business the way they do. I hope they go bankrupt.
- I learned cake decorating.
- I painted/created the artwork hanging in my house.
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| Barbara, my rock. |
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| My wonderful monsters, Lola and Gigi |
- In the last 10 years, I was blessed with a total of five four new nephews and one beautiful little niece. While two of the nephews were gained through marriage, they are still 100% my nephews. Tyler, Trevor, Jack, Thomas and Olivia, I love them with all my heart and while we aren’t often physically near to each other, they are always close in my heart.
- I was also super-duper blessed with five godchildren, three of which are included in the niece/nephew count from the previous bullet, but all of which were born within eight days of each other. Jack, Kayleigh, Alexandra, Thomas and Olivia are my heart.
- Although a bit of a surprise and coming in under the 40th birthday wire, I was blessed again with two adorable great-nephews. I look forward to getting to know them better in the coming years.
- I said good-bye to one the most important people in my life, and even now, more than six years later, I still miss my Dad. In my head I’ve written volumes ready to pour all of them into this post. But as I sit here trying to write this, I think less is more. I love you Daddy; I always will.
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| Daddy and his little girl |
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| Yep, I have this much fun at every race... well, almost every race |
- I completed a marathon. It may have taken me almost 5-1/2 hours, but I got it done. Yay for me.
- I made a new friend who loves running races although I met Jenni on a camping trip with a local hiking group. Just goes to show that you never know what’s gonna happen.
- I had the brilliant idea to lighten my hair to see what I would look like as a blond. After 6 hours sitting in the stylist’s chair, my hair was a medium red/brown and was on the verge of falling out because of excessive damage. I had very thin, fine hair to begin with and after this, I thought I was going to have to start researching either implants, extensions, or wigs. Seriously.
Obviously the above is not even close to an exhaustive list, but the highlights above all lead to the most important event that came out of my 30s. Over those 10 years, the above events combined with every other thing that I experienced helped me learn and grow and become who I am today. The greatest realization I had when I turned 40 (following my 4 days of mourning) was that I am the most confident, most self-assured that I have ever been in my life. I’m happy with who I am as a person and as a woman, and that was probably the best gift I could have gotten for my birthday. Do I wish I had had this confidence when I was growing up? Oh hell yeah! But I also know that I couldn’t have that kind of confidence because that can only be realized after having the experiences I’ve had; it’s the result of everything I’ve done and everyone that has come into my life. I’m the way I am now because of who I was during my first 30 years on this earth.
And as I sit here on B-Day plus 42, the mourning of my 30s past is slowly but surely starting to be replaced with looking to the future and planning my next wild and most definitely wacky adventures. Skydiving, here I come!
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