Yes. I turned 40 March 13. And it was awesome.
My best friend in California who I haven't seen in 5 years flew out to surprise me, my friends had a big party for me, and my mom and sister paid someone to put giant fake buzzards and tombstones in my yard. There was also a grim reaper on my birthday cake. I always secretly wanted the cheesy cakes and tombstone stuff when I made the big 4-0 and I got it!
And, then there is real life. I put my notice in at my freelance gig last week, and thought I'd be nervous, but it turns out making the decision was the hardest part. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me, and it's also made me feel like my 40s will be what I actually imagined my 30s would be like-- the decade of finally accomplishing many of the things I set out to do with my life. If this feeling is what a mid-life crisis is, I'll take it!
Okay okay, I admit I have spent the last year or so giving a lot of thought to what I wanted the next part of my life to be. I did this in part to so that turning 40 would be positive, rather than a "holy crap" I need to do something different, now, before it's too late.
So, what am I going to do with myself? Well, take care of the kids like I always do. But, I've been working on my first novel for five years and it's finally finally finally in it's final revision. I hope to send it out this summer, so the rejection letters can start rolling in.
While my novel is out there getting rejected, I have plans for three more, plus some short stories. I'm amped. I always set out to be a writer, so I ended up in journalism. I've worked at newspapers and magazines. It was great experience, yes, and I'm happy I did it, but I never intended to take that route. I had always planned to write books, and now, I'm going to do it.
I'm blessed that we're savers and we aren't going to miss any meals while I finally pursue the dream. I don't know. Something about turning 40 made me look at my life, my job, my habits and think "Do I want to spend the next 10 years doing what I did the last 10 years?"
The answer was no, so now I've entered a new phase. Let's hope it works out!
Oh, and in financial news, I put a freelance check for $500 into my IRA for 2015. Ever since we've decided to stick to a weekly budget, we have more money in the bank. It's been worth it.
So this is 40?
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