It has been 11 days since I turned the dreaded _0 and I must say it feels very, very strange.  The strangeness comes with the fact that I can say that I am _0 and yet I still “feel” like I am 32.  Seriously.  I was 32 when I moved here and I really don’t feel that much “older” than I did back then.  Strange.  I have to say, though, that it is fun watching people’s faces drop when they don’t know how old I am, think that I’m 32 and I tell them that I’m actually _0.  That is wicked fun, I must say.

One thing that have me hope yesterday came from my friend Jane over at “Keep Going You Fool“.  She posted a link to a YouTube video of Susan Boyle who appeared on a TV show called Brittan’s Got Talent, hosted by Simon Cowell.  (You can find it here.)  This is a great lesson of first impressions and how they are not accurate.  The video has been watched over 12 million times and at last count there were over 60 thousand comments left.  Hoax or not, her performance was absolutely stunning.  The thing that gives me hope, though, was the fact that she said she was 47 and is just now having the opportunity to make something of her voice.   This gives me hope for all the things I still dream of accomplishing.  Like publishing a novel and writing a bible study.  Dreams can come true at any age.

Updated: I’m going to call my Grandmother tonight.  Just thought I’d let you all know.  I’m going to keep one of my “resolutions”, aka TFR’s (Turning Forty Resolutions).

So the “big day” has come and gone and other than knowing how old I really am, I don’t feel any different.  Not that I expected to, but you know, it is nice anyway to feel the same.  Someone asked me at my bash what my goals were for this austere year for me and my reply was to seriously consider purchasing a home.  Not a bad goal.  Here are some other goals:

1. Finish my first pair of socks.  They are about 2 inches from being done, so this shouldn’t be difficult.
2. Finish my first pair of mittens.  I’m stuck on the thumb, so once my brain gets past that problem, these should be easy enough to finish as well.
3. Do some writing.  I should probably have a more specific goal than that – like say, write the first half of a novel, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself.
4. Knit a shawl for my sister.
5. Knit a sweater for my niece Olivia.
6. Finish the baby blanker for my niece Gabby.

All this while – working full time, finishing up a class, leading a bible study and putting time and energy into purchasing a home (and moving).  Still do-able in a year’s time, dontcha think?

Some resolutions:

RESOLVED: to spend at least 10 minutes every day writing.
RESOLVED: to call my grandmother at least once a week.
RESOLVED: to call my sister at least once a week.
RESOLVED: to improve in my correspondence – primarily sending “thank you” notes and notes of encouragement.
RESOLVED: to make a trip to California at least every 2 years (to visit my Aunt).
RESOLVED: to tell the people that are important to me how much I appreciate them.

I’m working this weekend because I want to (and because I have projects due) but so far, today has been a wonderful day.  My brain is finally coming to grips with the fact that the SSMO no longer looms precariously on the edge of things that must get done (because it is, in fact done) but has not yet settled on what to knit next.  I have to say that upon reviewing the pictures of my Mom wearing the SSMO that this is indeed the finest piece of knitting that I have produced.  And that makes me feel good.  I’m actually going to leave work behind for the afternoon, take a 1.5 hour drive and go play with my Godson, who just turned 6.  But never fear, I’ll be back at work tomorrow in a vain attempt to finish the project that I have due.  Toodles!

Wow – I can’t believe that I’ve had 100 posts on this blog!  Today marks the 101st post – a very momentous day indeed.

I went to bed at a very reasonable time last night and fell asleep very promptly, which is rare for me.  But then I woke up at 1:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep, I just sort of snoozed my way to 6AM.  What’s keeping me awake?  Stress.  Here are my activities for the next 3 weeks (I’m not writing these down for sympathy sake but for illustration sake, although if anyone would like to volunteer a large McDonald’s sweet tea…no, never mind – that would be playing into my addiction…can’t have that!).

• Tonight: Compass (8th grade small group at church) from 5-9
• Tomorrow:  Bible study from 8:30-10:30, then breakfast with the group until…noon.  Then off to JoAnn’s to get journal making stuff and then off to Trinity to study.
• Sunday: church, prep for Compass, then Compass again Sunday night, in between which I’ll be studying for Quiz and Finals
• Monday: QUIZ in Carson’s class (for which I hope to have studied….)
• Tuesday: my other class
• Wednesday:  big project at work due (which I am about 1/2 way done) then bible study that I’m leading
• Thursday: study for finals
• Friday: study for finals
• Next Saturday: study for finals
• Next Sunday: serve at church both services and…. study for finals
• Monday Week: Carson’s final (which will be the death of me, I think)
• Tuesday Week: Other Final
• Wednesday Week – Dec. 22:  Here are the projects that need to get done:  (1) New website for Financial Aid, (2) New Database system for Public Safety (which includes a new website), (3) New revisions for a web database for Off Campus Programs.  Normally, any ONE of those would cause me to panic, but I have ALL THREE to do.

The ONE highlight in all of this will be going to the Sing-A-Long Messiah concert on the 20th.  Yeah SAL Messiah!  (I’m listening to it now so that I’ll know all the words – wish me luck with that!)

Back to my original question:  stress is good, right?