getting older – Dancing in the rain!

I am almost there. Twelve days and I will be the BIG 4-0. I am not sure what is so big about it but apparently it is a big milestone. My Mom always told me how quick the time would go and as usual she was right! There are several things I intended to do by forty but life got in the way. I decided to make a list of 40 things I intended to do by the time I was forty but haven’t quite gotten around too….YET

1. Write a book (two in the works) It takes lots of time to sift through the swamp of shit in your head to find the scraps of pure gold!

2. Be a C.I.A. Agent. This is one of my most elaborate fantasies. I wanted to be a spy like Jennifer Garner in Alias. It is possible I may actually be a spy because sometimes I think I am dreaming about being a spy and I wake exhausted with unexplained bruises. I hope I am working for the good guys!

3. Take my mom to Graceland (sorry Mom) There was this show when I was young, I think it was called Dreams Come True. I wrote a letter hoping that they would send my parents to Graceland…No Dice!

4. Marry Jon Bon Jovi, admittedly this one was a longshot!

5. Be rich. I am not rich in the way I had planned in actual dollars but I am extremely wealthy in other ways!

6. Went on a Wine Country Tour unless you include the extensive wine section at Liquor Depot.

7. Visited Greece.

8. Visited Ireland.

9. Swam with Dolphins

10. Had a tequila party that I remembered!

11. Rang the mission bell at Hotel California

12. Had beers with Sean Connery

13. Learned to like shrimp eww

14. Drank Crystal from the bottle (or at all)

15. Had an Alien encounter.

16. Completed a thousand pc puzzle without swearing and throwing it in the garbage!

17. Watched E.T. This is just shameless and I really need to do this!

18. Made lemonade out of the lemons life sometimes gives me!

19. Gone to the pizza store to order delivery and get a free ride back to my house!

20. Bought a chocolate fountain.

21. Go out Walkin After Midnight singing Patsy Cline at the top of my lungs!

22. Door to door Christmas Carolling (except my own house)

23. Rock and Roll all night and Party Every day. (THIS IS A BOLD FACED LIE)

24. Prove my Royal Ancestry

25. Befriend the annoying Philly Cream Cheese lady who floats on clouds.

26. Give my bologna a last name.

27. Get myself a mascot called Babs the monkey

28. Played ring around the rosie while I had a pocket full of posies.

29. Given myself a really cool nickname.

30. Gave my arm and leg for something I really wanted.

31. Poked a needle in my eye for lying.

32. Made a mountain out of a mole hill.

33. Learned to fly…cause I ain’t got wings.

34. Dancing on the ceiling!

35. Made my own wine (could be dangerous).

36. Gotten myself caught between the moon and New York City…I know it’s crazy but it’s true!

37. Order and wear a cape that says
“Magnificent One!”

38. Skipped the light fantastic.

39. Wang Chung. (Tonight or any other night)

40. Used the algebra that was so important for me to learn in my daily life.

Ok I started out strong but forty is a lot of things and along the way I started to struggle. Not because there are not a million things I planned to do before 40 but as I was thinking about it they all seemed unimportant compared to what I have done. Being a mom, a wife, reuniting with my son just seems to Trump every “What if”

I can still learn the Argentine Tango in Argentina, I can still pack up my family and move to a simpler life and live off the land, I can still contemplate life along the Cliffs of Moher.

The important thing is that I am happy and I don’t feel that I missed out on anything. I know the best is yet to come! I don’t think of forty as ancient, as the end of the road. I prefer to think of it as a beginning, a right of passage.

I will still see new things with the grace of a child but will embrace hardships with the maturity of a woman.

The end of one journey signifies the beginning of another. “Goodbye Dirty Thirties. We were great friends but I am going to go my own way now. Naughty at forty? Sounds to me that forties is a time to do what makes you happy. No apologies, no regrets”

Come along for the ride!

Posted from WordPress for Android

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”

― Sophia Loren

The girls and I were at the spray park today, cooling off from the sweltering Canada Day heat and what I observed was an abundance of women determined to NOT grow old but in turn they looked just that. There really is something to be said for growing “older” gracefully. By that I don’t mean letting yourself go. I mean dressing appropriately, not using so much make-up that it settles into your fine lines, actually adding to the years you are trying to cover up, and keeping it natural. With age comes wisdom and people that have the wisdom to embrace their years can teach us all a lesson. I was thinking back to some of the women I have admired and envied over the years and how their addictions to plastic surgery and holding on to youth have been anything but kind to them.

Remember Melanie Griffith in Milk Money? She was just naturally beautiful and she exuded happy confidence. For years she had an on again off again romance with hunk Don Johnson and when that romance finally fizzled Melanie found solace and love with Spanish heartthrob Antonio Banderas. Perhaps trying to keep up with Hollywood elite young beauties was too much because sweet, fresh faced Melanie is a shadow of her former self.

Melanie in Milk Money

Melanie –Growing Older Gracefully

Melanie Before and After

Priscilla Presley

In 1959 Iconic Elvis Presley met Priscilla at a party in Germany. She was 14 at the time but appeared much older and made quite an impression on the King. She was truly one of the most beautiful women in the world. I can understand the desire to stay youthful and I can only assume that a little nip here and a tuck there turns into an obsession until there is very little left to work with. Priscillas pretty face does not even show a glimpse of who she once was and should now be. 😦

Growing Older Gracefully

Plastic Surgery Gone Horribly Wrong

Mickey Rourke

He was so sexy and seductive alongside Kim Bassinger in 9 1/2 weeks. Vanity is devilish!

Victoria Beckham

There is nothing POSH about this disaster. Your hunky husband may play soccer but I am sure he didn’t intend for you to put balls on your chest!

Darrel Hannah

Like a fish out of water something has gone terribly wrong with my favorite mermaid

Heidi Montag

Of Hollywood’s the Hills fame, young Heidi, born and raised in Colorado intends to become a walking barbie. One thing is for certain, she is plastic!

The true beauties are those that embrace their age like Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Sheryl Crow, Halle Berry, George Clooney, Sting, Diane Keaton, Bruce Springsteen, Julianne Moore, Diane Lane, Annette Benning, Richard Gere and my FAVE Jamie Lee Curtis. These are the men and women we should be looking up to. Healthy bodies, healthy faces and healthy attitudes about aging. Aging is inevitable but the way you age is a choice. Cheers to Growing older gracefully, in mind, body and spirit.