The 40th Birthday Post

Other than the decade-early postcard from AARP, I'm feeling pretty good about turning forty!

I'm reminded of my 30th birthday, where I ended up crying at the end of the night. It had been an okay day, but there was no area of my life that wasn't in complete shambles.

I'd told my husband it was over a couple of months before that, but we were still in Rochester, and I was waiting for Sylvia to finish kindergarten before we moved back to L.A. I liked my job, but my boss was a nightmare. I knew I was going to have to live with my parents (at 30!) and start completely over again. I had only enough money to take the cross-country flight, no car, and no job prospects.

Turning 30 had been the impetus for making some drastic changes, but I had no idea where I'd end up.

Here I am, ten years later, in a fairly quiet, but completely full life.

A few years before turning 30, as a stay-at-home mom in Pittsburgh, I thought about starting a blog, but I never had the guts. A few years after hitting that reset button on my life, I just did it already. I know that starting this blog has played a huge part in finding my confidence again, but I had no idea how many wonderful people it would bring into my life. 

I really wasn't sure if theatre would ever be a part of my life again, and here I am, in the midst of producing a musical.

I'm in a job that I love, working with people I love, and I go home to a teenager and nearly teenager that actually want to hug me and tell me they love me daily.

Things are not perfect. There aren't enough hours in the day, budgeting is important, and sometimes it scares me how much I still need to teach the girls before they're off. But I had no idea, 10 years ago, that I would be loving my life as much as I am, and I'm so glad that I didn't waste another 10 years!

I have no idea where I'll be 10 years from now, but I do know that if little has changed, that would be pretty great. And 10 years from now, I'll even be okay with getting another mailing from AARP!