35

I will turn 35 in about a month and a half, and I've been thinking about that a lot. So many things happened around the time I turned 30 -- I started reffing, I moved and started a new job, my mom got progressively sicker until she died. And as crazy as it is to think all those things happened five years ago, it's also incredible to think of all the things that have happened since.

I got to thinking about how I've spent my 35th year. I got started early, as I am wont to do.The weekend before my birthday, a bunch of friends and I traveled to Boston to do a Watson Adventure scavenger hunt at the Museum of Science. It was amazing and we won. We met up with some other friends and went trampolining. Then we had a good dinner. It was a great way to celebrate turning 34. The rest of my 35th year included many fabulous experiences, too:

• I officiated a bunch of derby (men's and women's)
• Staffed even more derby
• Did two more Watson Adventures scavenger hunts
• Saw the elephants in Hope
• Celebrated Grandma’s 90th birthday
• Officiated Renee and Kevin’s wedding
• Got my passport
• Visited Canada for the first time
• Had several great architectural misadventures (Columcille Megalith Park, Hammond Castle, Opus40, Lucy the Elephant)
• Rode a giant horse
• Continued the daily writing streak that began in November and concluded in June
• Wrote a book (the best thing I’ve ever written) in 157 days
• Scattered Mom’s ashes on what would've been her 60th birthday
• Had a nice day on the beach at Cape May
• Saw my cousin for the first time in 25 years and snuggled with her horse
• Ate from a bunch of fancy food trucks
• Cut off 8 inches of hair and donated it
• Rode a bike around Peaks Island (in a tutu!)
• Danced at a What Cheer? Brigade show (in a tutu!)
• Ate doughnuts all over the state (and can now tell you which ones are best)
• Played laser tag for the first time (and discovered I wasn’t half bad)
• Climbed a rock wall for the first time (and discovered it’s hard on the knees)
• Saw my favorite band (and another I really like) in concert
• Celebrated Dad’s 70th birthday
• Played disc golf for the first time (and laughed so much because I was so, so, SO bad)
• Filmed a lip syncing video to “Call Me Maybe” with my hilarious co-workers
• Climbed around at Monkey C Monkey Do
• Attended Mary and Gloria's wedding (legal this time)
• Survived the Mountain Raid (and got a medal!)
• Voted Ms. Chutzpah for the Intermediate DerbyLite class with Dishy
• Completed the plank challenge (got up to 5.5 minutes)
• Saw 3D Doctor Who in the movie theater
• Read a bunch of books (45 for the calendar year)
• Cured my headaches
• Got a lot healthier (in terms of what/how I eat and exercise) -- still a long way to go
• Had a lot of good days (some bad ones, too, but mostly good)
• Donated to lots of charities and people in need
• Received lots of support from others
• Spent time (and many meals - including Thanksgiving) with good friends
• Began the postal ninjery campaign
• Booked my trip to Iceland
• Got up to see the first sunrise of 2014 (my 35th new year) in the easternmost point in the US

Today, I bought a ticket to see my favorite band again in June (along with another I've been wanting to see). And I've already got some ideas in the works for celebrating my 35th birthday in a spectacular way.

Of all the things that have changed in the last five years, of course the biggest thing is missing my mom. I wish she could see all the things I've done and how happy I am (most days) with my life and my place in the world. (Then again, I can't help wondering who and where I'd be if she hadn't died....)

In the end, all I can do is try to show my gratitude for a pretty damn fantastic 35th year as it winds down and hope that I can fill the next one with as much (more?) fun and adventure.

Good omens

Celebrating the new year has been difficult for me for most of my life. Things I remember that I'd much rather forget. Things that make me feel small and unimportant and unlovable. Plus, it's cold and dark this time of year, which usually starts getting to me right around now.

This one was going to be my 35th new year, and I wanted to do something different, something that I could consider a good omen for the year unfolding before me. I decided to go up to the easternmost point in the US (Lubec, ME) to watch the first sunrise of 2014.

My derby kid and her boyfriend and I drove out to the West Quoddy Head lighthouse an hour earlier than I usually get up for work. I don't remember the exact temperature, but it was less than ten degrees and more than three. (Not that it really matters when it's that few degrees. Really. I had double layers of pretty much everything on, and I was still freezing. Here's how cold it was: Some random stranger's collie came bounding up to me and made a nose print on my glasses which froze there in the instant it took me to swipe them off my face to wipe them clean. )

We stood outside in the cold for 45 minutes, taking pictures and sharing gumball machine ninjas with strangers, waiting for the sun to make its appearance.

And then it did:

I have rarely in my life felt such peace. Afterward, we thawed ourselves out and had amazing homemade waffles and got back in our cars to go home. For all the time I've spent in cars in the last week (so much more than anyone would want to), it was a pleasant drive home.

I was looking for a good omen to start 2014, and I think I got it. Maybe it's a good omen for all of us. (At least, I can hope.)