Countdown to 40... continued

In 61 hours I will be 40.

I have 61 hours left of my 30's.

I will be in sunny AZ when I phase my way into my fourth decade.

If I was born at 9:09 in the Central Time Zone, does it mean that I turn 40 at 8:09 in the Mountain Time Zone?

When I was 12 and 20 and even 30 I thought 40 was old.

I hope I never look or feel 40 until I'm 50.

January 25th

Today I turn 38.
My sister turns 19.
She is the same age I was when she was born.
She is half my age; I am twice hers.
Two family members have thought I was going to be 37.
It forced me to do the math.
Nope, I'm still 38.

Welcome Baby Ella

My step sister had her first child about seven weeks ago. She had a really rough pregnancy. Lots of sickness, early labor, bed rest, the whole sha-bang.

This is how it started(email sent by stepdad):

new grandchild last night, all of 4lbs 16oz's. both are doing fine. the baby's heart rate was getting low this past week, so they decided to do ahead with a cesarian. ella had a little trouble breathing at first, but last word was everything is ok now.

Then this (stepdad again):

I just talked to Carmen and both are doing fine. Ella has eaten twice so far but Carmen did not get to feed her. She has held her once. Ella is in an incubator until she is stable which might be by this afternoon. Carmen is really tired and can't believe how much better she feels now that she is not pregnant!

Then my mom sent me this:

A funny thing. Last night, while very doped up, she said she hadn't really seen her since she was cleaned up, so Glen kept showing her cell phone pictures.
Today, she said that Glen would be sitting talking to Carmen and then get up and say... well, I think I'm going to go hang out with Ella.

Now, everything is going well except Ella's days and nights are mixed up and Carmen is completely exhausted.

This is the lil' stinker causing all the fuss
.

Bithday girls

I had a birthday yesterday. It was pretty uneventful. I used to be so excited to have a birthday but now it's just another day. I saw my mom and we ate brunch then did some shopping. Later I went to my stepmom's and had dinner and cake.
My (half)sister and I have the same birthday. We are 19 years apart almost to the hour. She makes the day a little more special. Although, it wasn't always that way. At first I was extremely resentful that I had to share MY birthday. Now it's pretty cool. She doesn't know any different, she's always had to share her day with me. I hope she has never and will never feel cheated.
So she's 18 and I'm 37. She wants to go get a tattoo together. She's talked about it for about a year and when we recently talked about that possiblility it turns out we wanted the same tattoo in the same spot. I told her she needs to really think about this. It took me almost ten years to finally get my tattoo and she says, "yeah, and you got a butterfly just like everyone gets a butterfly for their first tattoo." Dang. I thought everyone got a rose or rosebud. My bad.
I guess we'll get them soon is all I can say.
37 seems like a pretty alright age. True, I'm not married, I'm really as single as they come. I have no children and none on the way. I keep saying maybe one day but I'm really not in a hurry. Sure, the clock is ticking but do I want kids? I struggle with this a lot. A lot.
But it's another year and here I am with a ton of possibilities in front of me. 37 could be a great year.

Day one

Today I should have gotten up and gone to work but instead I slept until 9:45, watched the last episode of season two The Wire, and made a To Do list.
I am still on the payroll for this week but am not working. Works for me. I will get a phone call today or tomorrow regarding the severance. I was able to gather information and am certain I will receive it.
There are different channels to go through: court, blah, blah, blah, since the company filed for bankruptcy. I am feeling optimistic about it all though. I have some options and several connections I will be utilizing.
Right now, I'm starting this off with the attitude that I'm enjoying the time off.
My weekend was full and offered plenty of distractions... and unsolicited well-intentioned advice. My family celebrated four January birthday's on Saturday. I got all four seasons of The Office. I am just giddy about it!
Sunday I got away from it all by driving down to my mom's. I enjoyed free laundry and free food. Something that comes in handy when one isn't employed. Throw in quality time with my mom and a long beautiful drive (even in the winter), it wasn't half bad.

Happy Birthday, Momma!

Happy birthday, Sam I Am!

The baby is eight today.