WHAT?

How the heck did this happen?

When I was little, playing with my Barbie dolls, they never made it past 30.

Which, when you are 8, seems ancient.

And today I turn 46. I actually lost a year, because for some reason I can no longer do simple math, and last year I thought I was 44. I even sent my parents an elaborate Anniversary card on their Forty Fifth, in August, 9 months before I was born. When last year was actually their 46th. They were wondering what was up with me.

Really, it has nothing to do with denial. I love my forties. (Other than the waking up at 3 am and not being able to go back to sleep, and the popping sounds my knees make when they bend, and the arthritis in my neck, and back, and hands)...but seriously, FORTY is great. There are things that really no longer bother you, like they did in your twenties and thirties. No makeup, not even mascara, for several days in a row? So what! And I was even out in public! My mom would be horrified. Maybe she never felt that liberation, that I certainly feel. My husband and child love me for who I am. Not that I am going to become a slob or anything, but there are some beauty routines that just don't need to be routine any more.

Other than pedicures, a TOTALLY different story.

I really do love being in my forties, never mind that now I am on the other side of 45, and my FIFTIES are looming. Things have changed ! Woman are vibrant, and exciting, and beautiful, (even WITHOUT BOTOX) well beyond forty. Wrinkles are interesting. Gray hair can be very dynamic. Thirty is the new Fifty.

All I know is, I love my life the way it is RIGHT NOW. And getting older can only mean getting better, and wiser, and finding new wine to drink.