Well, my birthday came and went off without a hitch. I did discover that I share the same birthday as Erin Andrews, Lance Bass, George Will, Randy Travis, and Audrey Hepburn. Other than that it was a nice, low key day.

The problem with me hitting 39 is simple: I’m at one of those ages that is right before a ‘monumental’ birthday. Nobody gives a hooha if you’re 39. When you hit 40 people act like it is a major achievement, much like when you turned 13, 16, 18, 21, 25 and 30. When you’re at an age right before one of these milestone birthdays the anticipation builds and builds. You can’t wait until that next year when you hit one of the defining moments in your life. The downside is that nobody really gives you the star studded treatment when you hit your 12, 15, 17, 20, 24 or 29th birthday.

All the goodness is saved up for the next year.

You get to that banner year and then you finally reach the summit of the birthday mountain and…meh. So, I sit here, diligently typing away, looking at the year ahead; thinking ‘Pffffffffft! Screw you, 40! Big whoop! You’re not going to get your greasy mits on me, yet!’.

You would think that I would have grown wiser as I’ve aged. As many of my friends can tell you that probably isn’t the case. I still indulge in many of my vices from my 20’s and 30’s, I have a terrible diet and I’m still a glutton for a good time. I also refuse to ask for directions, to listen to other people’s advice, to pay attention nor will I read instructions.

Here’s a good example: I was doing some research for a place that I write for. I wound up getting a summary from an article from a site that required me to register to read the rest. So I did. I wound up perusing the site, admiring the social aspects, and I became engrossed in the conversations of the site’s participants. It was like I had found a place where people understood me.

What I didn’t realize until later was that I had created an account on a site for solely for women 40 years old and older.

Maybe I don’t care about turning 40 next year. Mathematically speaking I’ve already lived half my life. Which makes me wonder: I chose to start working out seriously now?!