#Microblog Monday - Turning 50

So my birthday is coming up, next Sunday the 16th. It's a big, scary one: 50. I do not feel 50, and I like to think I don't look or act 50 either. But 50 I will be, like it or not.

If I had to say how old I feel, I think it would be around 43 to 45. I'm sure the fact that I am in the process of donor egg IVF/FET and hoping to become a mom soon contributes to my not feeling like 50 is my appropriate age. Also, I've never been married and will likely be doing so next year, which is a life event that often occurs (at least the first time) at a significantly younger age. Thirdly, my sister and brother are 7.5 and 9 years younger than me, respectively, and they both are married with two children - the youngest being 4-years-old. My partner, RC, is 10 years older than me, so that should help me feel older, but it really doesn't. He's excited to have a child together, and says he doesn't feel his age at all, either.

My sister wrote me today and asked if I would like to have a family Xmas/birthday gathering on my birthday, since they will be in California with her husband family over the holiday. I have mixed feelings about this. It was always a big deal when I was growing up to keep Christmas and my birthday separate. My parents wouldn't get a tree until after my birthday, usually, and made an effort to focus just on birthday celebrations at my special time of year. So, maybe subconsciously that plays a role, although I'm all about starting Christmas early at this point, and we got our tree the first weekend of December.

I did want to do something a little "different" if we gathered for my birthday this year, maybe a karaoke machine or dancing and/or sharing memories. Something memorable. RC said he was going to try and plan something, but he hadn't really taken any action on that prior to my sister contacting me. I'm sure he'd be happy to have it off his plate.

Part of me would like to skip it and ignore I'm turning 50, and part of me wants to feel special and celebrate it in a memorable way. What you would do if you were me? Have you had any big birthdays which brought up mixed feelings?

A Lowly Adventure

Yesterday, I had the most unpleasant adventure. I was going to pick up a few things at Best Buy in my town, but realized after driving there that what I thought was Best Buy was actually Staples!

So, since we're having an outrageous heat wave, and I wanted to stay in air-conditioning as much as possible – including inside my car –  I set the GPS for a Best Buy in the next town north, about 20 miles away.

I blame it on the heat, but I failed to remember I was a bit low on gas, until that is I was 1 mile from my destination and pushing on the gas pedal with no response. Aargh! It's been forever since I ran out of gas, and I felt like a irresponsible teenager.

I demonstrated my dramatic side on the phone to the roadside assistance dispatcher, all but saying I was about to die in the heat. The wait could've been much worse, there was even a breeze, but I was so relieved when the roadside assistance arrive to save the day with a gas can.

Apparently, I was bored and needed to create some adventure in my life, but this was really the bottom of the barrel in terms of adventures!