39! Birthday Reflections

I vividly remember the card my father made for my mother that said “39 . . . and holding”. It was 1988, and the card was a folded Print Shop masterpiece, thoughtfully designed and printed out onto dot matrix printer paper. It had a big hourglass on the front, and for whatever reason it made a big impact on nearly-8-year-old me, because I definitely do not remember her 38th birthday card, or 40th birthday card, or any others, for that matter (sorry mom).

So 39. It is not just a stepping stone before 40. And maybe Annabel will harbor lasting imagery from this day — one never knows!

I am feeling really lucky and content today. Not about the state of the world, of course, but about my life.

A pretty awesome husband.

3 healthy (gorgeous, amazing, brilliant <– 100% biased maternal view, but it’s my birthday so I can get away with this, right?) children!

A career that a) feels meaningful and fun (most of the time), b) pays well and c) has evolved exactly in the directions of my dreams

2 really enjoyable and rewarding hobbies: the podcast & this blog!

A healthy body that has been resilient enough to tolerate 3 pregnancies, 4 marathons, and numerous Autumn Calabrese-hosted workouts. I don’t really *feel* very old physically, and that is a good thing.

A world where one can order almost anything at the click of a button, where I can video chat with family, where I can watch any TV show I want, and order books on a total whim to arrive on my device instantly (1988 me would be so impressed with these developments!)

Wish list before 40:

It may be greedy to add on to the above, but if allowed to fantasize, I would want:

• to sell our Miami Beach house (an offer today would be GREAT!)
• a cure for the common cold (because G has one now – so sad)
• to keep all of the good things above going (health, job, etc!)

And that’s it.

For fun, because this is the benefit of having kept a blog for such an inordinate amount of time: 25, 30, 35.