A Few Post-Birthday Thoughts...

Last Tuesday, October 25, was a momentous day for me. I turned 35 years old. I think I can no longer call myself a "young adult"--now I have to start saying things like, "I'm in the PRIME OF LIFE" or "I'm a MATURE woman". Ugh. This year has been the first time I've started to look more closely at myself in the mirror--and really start freaking out about my advancing age. With alarm, I've noted each new wrinkle in my face, each new pound around my middle, each new creak in my (already pretty creaky) knees.

It's possible the advancing age of my parents & in-laws has made me more sensitive to my mortality. In the last year, my father-in-law was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer. He had surgery a few weeks ago to have his kidney & surrounding lymph nodes removed. All in all, he's doing great and responding well to treatment. However, the news of his cancer definitely forced him (and Nate's mother) to re-evaluate their retirement years and their short- and long-term goals, realizing that Life can no longer be taken for granted. My own father doesn't have cancer; however, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which is chronic and debilitating. To my father (a real "do-it-yourself," active man), it has been a major lifestyle adjustment, forcing him to "scale things down" probably a bit more than he'd like.

In short, seeing these men (both of whom I love & admire greatly) dealing with these new challenges and finally start to look "old" (no offense, Dad!) has made me realize that I'm not as young as I used to be either. It's making me ask myself all sorts of questions: when do I start scheduling my yearly screenings? What is my role in this "next" stage of my life? How do I manage my weight carefully (and realistically) now that my metabolism is slowing down? Biggest of all, perhaps, is "Should I have any more kids??" The answer to many of these questions is, as yet, elusive. Hopefully things will become clearer with more time.

But enough of this downer talk! let's talk about how I celebrated my birthday. Well, my actual birthday wasn't too exciting; Celeste had a fever, and I had many errands to run. Thankfully, my book club met that evening, so I was able to get out & enjoy a little "me" time.

However, the real celebration happened the weekend before, when I decided to bake a large cheesecake. Then, to do it one better, I threw a party, invited many of my friends, and told them to bring cheesecake as well. I made a contest out of it; everyone could taste-test everyone else's cheesecake, then vote for the winner, who would later receive a dessert made by me!! I made a creme de menthe cheesecake, from a recipe I'd had sitting around for years but never used:

Mine didn't look anywhere near that beautiful, I'm afraid (this one was from the Land O Lakes website)--that's what I get for not having any green food coloring!! However, it tasted surprisingly good--surprising because, although I love mint-flavored desserts, I wasn't sure how well that would translate to cheesecake. I wasn't the only one who approved; my whole cheesecake was devoured over the course of the party (probably for the best; too many leftovers=bad for the hips). However, I was not the winner of the night; my friend Tabatha brought a caramel-apple cheesecake that triumphed over my minty version.

Lots of friends showed up--more than I'd expected!! Luckily, we had enough snacks (and cheesecake, of course) for everyone. It got pretty noisy and crazy, but it was very cheering to have so many people over. It made me feel young, which was a good feeling given the circumstances! I may be getting older, but I am extremely fortunate to have a family that loves me, a lovely home to live in, and many friends with whom I've had so many great experiences. Thanks to everyone who came for making my birthday an enjoyable one! And Tabatha...you'll get your prize once you come asking for it!

Speaking of prizes--that's what my next blog post will be about! Stay tuned...