Lists of 30

 

May 15th is my birthday and this year is a big one.  In just 13 days I will be thirty.  The big 3-0.  

I have less than two weeks to enjoy the last of my twenties and then I will officially be....old.  ;-)  

As a diversionary tactic, I have been busy doing what I do best----- making lists!  Specifically, lists of 30 THINGS, which I will be posting here each day all the way up until my birthday.   (I realize that making lists for entertainment makes me a nerd and I am okay with that.)  I can't promise they will be every day (I am done 10 lists and plum out of ideas at this point!) but they will at least be an excuse for more regular blog activity then I have been giving you (which doesn't say much, does it?)


And at the end of this charade--- there will be a GIVEAWAY!  (Of COURSE!  Celebrating always calls for presents!)

To kick off the list of 30's....here are 30 things I have learned the older I get.

About Myself:

•  I am a firm believer that if it makes you happy-then do it, whether you are good at it or not.  If  you love to paint-do it!  Whether you never show a single soul what you've painted or whether it is worthy of an award is no matter at all.
•  I can raise animals, butcher them, cook them and eat them- something I thought I would never be able to actually do.
• For me, creative outlets are an actual, bonafide need. 
• I can teach children how to read after all.  And pretty successfully, I might add.
• It is easier to purge my childrens' things than my own.
• Winter gets longer every year.
• Giving birth to children creates a level of empathy that is very nearly painful when watching people give birth in movies or hearing people tell of their birthing experiences.  I feel it.  And it ain't cozy.   
• An easy way to tell I am upset is whether or not I am singing, humming or otherwise making music.
• The only way I would ever feel firsthand that odd, evasive feeling called "Boredom" is if I were DEAD.
• Sleeping with pajamas is akin to nails on a chalkboard for me.  Maybe worse.
• I am much more a non-fiction girl than fiction.
• I really enjoy reading about how women managed with so little and such independence during the years of the Great Depression and those decades preceding it.  I also really enjoying taking part in some such activities because I want to, not because I need to.  Those idealized women really had it tough. And as prepared as I sometimes feel, I wonder if I could actually do as well if placed in their circumstances, as they did.  I really kinda doubt it.
• I am officially out of the "season" of polished fingernails and do not know when/if it will ever return.
• I will always, however, wear toenail polish.  It is an absolute MUST.

About Others:

• The older I get the less I care for the opinions of the world.
• If someone is gossiping about someone else to you, you can bet they gossip to others about you.
• No matter what you do, no matter how hard you will try---not everyone will like you.  And that doesn't mean you need to change.  
• Most of the time~ people don't need you to have the perfect words.  They just need you to be there.
• I can not stand lazy.
• I have no patience at all for disrespectful children and teenagers.
• People may refuse our love or reject our message, but they are defenseless against our prayers.

About Life:

• Roasted vegetables are amazingly delicious.  And they warm the house up in winter.  SCORE!
• Children have a bonafide need for dirt in their lives.
• Time is the most precious commodity.  Use it well.
• A few good friends mean more to me than lots of  "friends".  (And this, my friends, is why I will always detest FACEBOOK.)
• That money is a lousy way to keep score.
• Everything around us has bias.  Yes.  Even the supposedly "unbiased" news.  In fact, those who claim the title "unbiased" are the ones you should watch out for most of all.
• Homemade pizza is pizzeria-worthy when baked at 475 degrees, on the bottom rack and one at a time.  (It took me years to realize this.)
• That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
• The best way to share your faith is not by words but by living.