OLDER & WISER?

I've been so caught up in the baby business that I haven't taken time to mope over the fact that I will soon be a year older.

After turning 30, I noticed that all of the subsequent years have blended into one. I can't find any significant events that really separate one year from another. Is this what happens when we approach (gasp!) middle age? If so, It's really not so bad. I can keep myself at 30 for a whole ten years in my mind, the trick is fooling everyone else. Or perhaps no one cares ? Once we graduate from our twenties, are we all lumped into one age group, the over-twenty-somethings? Now that I have a handful of friends who are into their 40's, that particular decade doesn't seem so geezerly anymore. Is this acceptance a sign that I am finally beginning to mature?

My mom's women friends, who are in the early dawn of their sixties, are the wisest, most content women I know. Most are now settling into retirement and embarking on new adventures in their lives. The Grandmas of today aren't the lumpy, aproned bun-in-the-hair variety like the days of yonder. Todays "elders" are fresh and sassy in appearance, and active in many regards. I hope to follow in their running shoes when I am their age.

For now, as a woman nearing her mid-thirties, I know that I have many tests ahead of me. I just hope I pass. I certainly failed a lot of the "exams" handed to me in my twenties, and I am glad to be rid of that age! If it weren't for those downfalls, however, I don't think I would be well-equipped to face the challenges that I experience today. Another Birthday? Eh, I say...bring it on!