40th year/365

  birthday flowers from my sister-in-law…gorgeous, huh?

 Project Life or 365 has always enticed me. I tried it once and didn’t follow through. But I still love the idea of it. And I love Becky Higgin’s kit too.

After my week in the life project this year it came to mind again. Only this time it’s coming with a very selfish bent. It’s all about me after all, right? :)

For the last several years I’ve been telling myself (and others) that I’m coming up on 40. Anyone that knows me has heard me say that often. Some people even laugh at me. But really, I keep saying it because I’m hoping when the day comes, it will be no big deal because mentally I’m prepared for it.

So…I’m ready to ramp up my mental training! I’m going to order Becky’s Project Life as a gift to myself for my 39th birthday. My birthday was yesterday…but the kit is still waiting to be re-stocked at Amazon so I’m going to start with the photos and order it as soon as it’s in. I’m going to document the last year of my thirties from my point of view. It’s all about me and my life right now.

At this stage in her life, my mom was in her career, having graduated from college later in life (post-children). I was a senior in high school, my brother a freshman. She was facing an empty nest after being married for twenty years.

Her mother (my maternal grandmother) had just married off her oldest daughter (my mom), faced the death of her middle daughter and was dealing with the end of high school angst of her youngest. She had been married 22 years already.

My paternal grandmother had already been married for 24 years. She married off her oldest (my father) and was celebrating the graduation of both her middle and youngest boys. She would become a grandmother the next year (I was born before her 41st birthday).

Totally different life stages. I wonder how they felt about this milestone year? In my 40th year I’ll have a 9 year old, a 6 year old and a 4 year old.  We’ll celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I had an 8 year teaching career before quitting to stay home with our (then 1, now 3) boys. I will most likely go back to it eventually…but for now I’m staying at home and enjoying helping them grow into Godly young men.

I want to document all of that. I want to be able to hand this album to my daughters in law and granddaughters as they approach their 40th year. (My sons can look at it if they want to…but I have a feeling it will have more meaning to the women in their lives).

I want to be reminded that life is good. No, great!

I’ve never felt better than I do right now…approaching 40. And I want to remember that.

So…I’m commencing Project Life…365 days of me. Selfish, huh?

Kristen