A Decade in Review...

I've been thinking about this day for a while now. I'm about to turn 40. If you had asked me when I was 20 what my life would look like when I turned 40, I would have described a much different scene. But life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Everything happens for a reason and many other trite expressions. (Feel free to comment with your favorite.)

I have made some big rash decisions on birthdays. On my 29th I traded in my Toyota Echo, a very sensible vehicle, for a yellow Jeep Wrangler. On my 30th I quit my tenured teaching position, tried to break up with my boyfriend and moved to Georgia. On my 31st I bought a condo. Things have settled. I haven't done anything drastic in a while. I have thoughts of what I would like to do on my 40th, but I may just be a bit more sensible then I was when I turned 30.

In my 30s I have been employed (in no particular order) as a server, bartender, restaurant manager in training; an administrative assistant, assistant program director, and a program director over seeing (at various times) fitness, recreation, camps, child development and aquatic departments. I spent 3 summers as an athletic director at a sleep away camp (think Parent Trap meets Meatballs). I started refereeing lacrosse when I was 31/32. Currently, I am an office manager.

 

The man I affectionately used to refer to as my insignificant other or my dysfunctional relationship. 

Just before turning 35, I finally called things off (for good) with my Yo-Yo relationship. It only took 8+ years to figure it out. Sometimes I'm a slow learner.



At 37 I ran my first half marathon with these awesome people. The woman next to me, is the reason I signed up for that very first half!

 

At 38 I finished my Master's Degree and at 39 my home burned down. My world collapsed, but I'm still standing!

  

One of the firemen heard me talking about my bike and my gear being in the condo. When he went in he saw my bibs and medals and grabbed them for me. He didn't know my back story, he just knew these were important. I cried on his shoulder.

 

My 30s were definitely interesting. I left teaching in NJ for the unknown in GA. I took a cruise by myself. I moved out of state for a new position that was eliminated 3 months after I started. I found a new job only to be eliminated from the position 4 months after I started. I relied heavily on my sister and her family in the beginning of my 30s when I first moved to GA, the middle when I found myself out of work and at the end as I am currently living there again waiting for my home to be livable. I traveled to Israel on a whim. I traveled for races with others and on my own. I became an independent person. I didn't just survive my 30s, I came out of them a stronger, happier, better person because of my experiences. I'm holding on to 39 for 3 more days but have come to grips with turning 40.

 

I have one last question: