56 things I’ve learned in my 56 years

Birthdays can be a sobering event, especially for a woman past ’29’. We bemoan the fact that things are slipping, settling and softening, instead of celebrating our hard won freedom. Freedom to be who we really are, without all the angst of our 20s, 30s and 40s, to try something new, even if it embarrasses the hell out of our significant others, to dance like everyone is watching and not give a damn. Don’t get me wrong…I secrectly love that my husband is a little far-sighted, rendering me always 10 years younger in his eyes. And that the Luna/Wattie genes have blessed me with bits I quite like (although the excessive facial hair from my dads side I would willingly give up, oh, and the bunions from my mom).

When it comes to our ‘self’, we all have things we love, hate, battle. We also have a massive capacity to accept what we cannot change (I will never have curly hair) and change what we can (less wine, more yoga). So in homage to my 56 years, here are 56 (and counting), things I’ve learned about myself, in no particular order:

1. I do not have fat legs
2. I am better at cooking than I am at baking
3. I hate working out
4. I get crabby when I’m anxious and anxious when I’m crabby
5. Getting a dog at 52 was the 2nd best decision I ever made
6. Gardening is a great workout and I love getting hot, sweaty and dirty (can I say that in a blog?)
7. Too much clutter makes me twitchy, and crabby
8. My sisters are my best friends
9. My best friends are my sisters
10. I have an obsessive need to help others with their oxygen mask before I put on my own
11. I love to write
12. I hate, HATE, cleaning toilets
13. I love, LOVE having a muchacha who doesn’t seem to mind cleaning my toilet
14. My dad thinks I’m a ‘warm fuzzy’ and I finally believe him
15. Getting cancer was not a gift but it was a catalyst for some pretty great stuff
16. My mom thinks I consume too much wine and she is right
17. I hate that I have to drink too much wine to get up and dance
18. When I get overwhelmed, I do not negotiate well for myself
19. I am an excellent negotiator for others
20. It took me 20+ years to notice how blue my moms eyes are
21. I have regrets, but I hope I’ve learned from them
22. I will never be a vegan
23. I love cooking for my vegan friends
24. I would rather be too hot than too cold
25. I pretend to like Radiohead but I really just like Thom Yorke
26. Mashed potatoes and gravy, mmmmmmmmm
27. Getting a perm does not make me look like I have naturally curly hair, it just makes me look like I have a perm
28. I look pretty cute bald
29. I love swimming if the water isn’t too cold
30. I must have been a glum child because I distinctly remember people telling me all the time to smile
31. My smile is my best feature
32. I’m really scared of bears, and sharks
33. I fall hard for the creative brooding types
34. I think I’ve gotten more interesting with age
35. I am not as strong as I thought I was
36. I like gliding in the slipstream of my extroverted friends
37. I love reading the newspaper, the real newspaper, not the online kind
38. I’m pretty good at building creative things
39. Coffee is almost as good as wine
40. Learning something new is the key to happiness
41. Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell and kd lang make me cry
42. I can’t really sing very well
43. I get depressed when its grey outside
44. I can eat my bodily weight in fresh crab
45. Ditto for sushi
46. Moving to Mexico was way harder on me than I thought it would be
47. Not going to art school in Paris was one of my regrets
48. Not applying to go to art school in Paris was an even bigger one
49. I’ve met the coolest people in the last 10 years of my life
50. I am way stronger than I think I am
51. Always have a room of your own
52. I need structure as much as I need spontaneity
53. I don’t know everything
54. I don’t like being bossed around
55. Saying ‘I love you’ on a regular basis does not cause one to get hit by lightning
56. Making a new life in Mexico with my husband and my dog was the #1 best decision I ever made