Tonight's Wine: Wonderful Wine Co. 2013 Columbia Valley Riesling
So, tonight is the last night that I will go to bed with a man in his 30s. Yes, my dear husband hits the big 4-0 tomorrow, and he...well, actually, he couldn't care less. We had a great weekend this past weekend to celebrate (well, I had a great weekend, anyway - he had a tooth abscess Thursday night and spent the weekend nursing bourbon and taking antibiotics!), but it wasn't a big deal. Although I had been trying for months to plan some huge getaway or party - Vegas! The Bahamas! Europe! - he just wasn't into it. I have to admit, my own big 4-0 is a little over six months away, and I am already obsessing. Subconsciously, I feel that on that February morning, I will wake up stooped over, wrinkled, and with my whole body aching. Ridiculous, no? But I think that's the difference between turning 40 as a woman and turning 40 as a man.
Let me be the first to tell you, there is no doubt that my husband has improved with age. He is more physically fit now, the little bit of gray in his beard suits him, and I think fatherhood and experience have mellowed him and made him kinder, smarter, and more fun. It is so easy for me to see how the aging process has done him nothing but favors...so why is it so hard for me to see whether it's done the same for me? Why do I view this stupid, arbitrary birthday as THE END of my youth, my vitality, my LIFE? It's insane, I know, and yet. And yet, it's still there.
The best way for me to handle 40, I think, is to remind myself of all of my gorgeous, smart, funny, successful, fun-loving friends who have reached that milestone already and lived to tell about it. When I look at my girlfriends, there is not a one among them whose age every crosses my mind. I have a couple of younger friends (and I admit, they are annoying me a little right now by virtue solely of BEING younger!), but most of my friends are in the 40-and-up club. And they are AMAZING. As a matter of fact, one of the things I admire most about my 40+ friends is their confidence. They look great, they accomplish much, and they know it. They are past the worrying and insecurity of a younger age. 40 has been fantastic to all of them. It's going to be fantastic to my husband, starting tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, by six months from now, I will have accepted that it is going to be fantastic for me too.
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Summertime Sadness
Tonight's Wine: Wilhelmina 2013 Riesling (not normally a Riesling fan, but if I'm ever going to drink it, the hot summertime is when!)
What a summer it has been. I just cannot believe it is almost over. I went today and, for the first time, had to buy school supplies for not just one but both of my boys. My younger son went with me, and although it was cute to see how excited he got about picking out his pencil box (Atlanta Falcons-themed, naturally) and markers, I couldn't help but think...how in the WORLD did we get here so quickly? Wasn't it only last year that he was a little two-year-old crying when I dropped him off for preschool? Am I the only mom who feels like I have lost years somewhere along the way? It truly does not feel possible that my youngest - my BABY - is going to be a first grader.
So yes, the end-of-summer sadness is setting in over here. Big time. But I need to remember all of the happiness that this summer has contained in its short (TOO short!) ten weeks! Vacation at the beach with my family and nephew #2. Endless lake days on the boat, having a beer and watching the boys swim their hearts out. The beginning of guitar lessons for my older son. Soccer season for the little guy. Vacation at the beach again for the 4th of July with our oldest friends and their beautiful daughters. A visit to the water park. Vacation at the lake with my in-laws and nephews #1 and #3. Dinners out with my gorgeous friends. Late nights, late mornings, pool visits, hotter-than-Hades running in the mornings...almost too much fun and pleasure for one season. I'm going to try really hard to fight my glass-half-empty nature and instead reflect on what filled my glass all summer long. And hey, there's always the possibility of a Labor Day weekend beach getaway, right?
Besides, if all else fails, all I need to do is remind myself that football season is on the horizon! Ahhh...I feel myself cheering up already. ;)
Cheers!
What a summer it has been. I just cannot believe it is almost over. I went today and, for the first time, had to buy school supplies for not just one but both of my boys. My younger son went with me, and although it was cute to see how excited he got about picking out his pencil box (Atlanta Falcons-themed, naturally) and markers, I couldn't help but think...how in the WORLD did we get here so quickly? Wasn't it only last year that he was a little two-year-old crying when I dropped him off for preschool? Am I the only mom who feels like I have lost years somewhere along the way? It truly does not feel possible that my youngest - my BABY - is going to be a first grader.
So yes, the end-of-summer sadness is setting in over here. Big time. But I need to remember all of the happiness that this summer has contained in its short (TOO short!) ten weeks! Vacation at the beach with my family and nephew #2. Endless lake days on the boat, having a beer and watching the boys swim their hearts out. The beginning of guitar lessons for my older son. Soccer season for the little guy. Vacation at the beach again for the 4th of July with our oldest friends and their beautiful daughters. A visit to the water park. Vacation at the lake with my in-laws and nephews #1 and #3. Dinners out with my gorgeous friends. Late nights, late mornings, pool visits, hotter-than-Hades running in the mornings...almost too much fun and pleasure for one season. I'm going to try really hard to fight my glass-half-empty nature and instead reflect on what filled my glass all summer long. And hey, there's always the possibility of a Labor Day weekend beach getaway, right?
Besides, if all else fails, all I need to do is remind myself that football season is on the horizon! Ahhh...I feel myself cheering up already. ;)
Cheers!
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