I turned 40 this year which is a milestone. I felt pretty good about it. I realized how much more I know about myself than I did 20 or even 10 years ago. Here are 40 things that 40 years have taught me.

I recently added 7 more cats to my household.

Before you think, “woah, she’s crazy”, these are 6 foster kittens and their mama.  I may still be crazy.

My family is currently fostering two kittens and it is quite the experience. This is not the first time we have dipped our toes into the fostering world. It comes with many benefits!

I feel like perimenopause snuck up on me.

Maybe I was just ignoring snippets of conversation or not reading the articles that popped up because I didn’t think they applied to me. Maybe I was just blissfully ignorant on the subject.

It’s that Back-to-School time of year again and many parents are visiting their kids’ school for back-to-school night. Most of us know how the night goes, the principal speaks and then the PTSA president gets up to address the school to practically beg parents to join.

The person begging this year was me. I’m my son’s high school PTSA President.

My family visited a haunted lunatic asylum on our latest summer vacation. Yes, you read that correctly, we chose to visit what is known as the most haunted building in West Virginia during our summer vacation.

Spoiler alert, we did not see or feel anything paranormal, but it also did not disappoint.

The family that builds a deck together stays together. Not sure if that’s a thing, but I’m running with it as my family just recently tackled a huge DYI deck project together.

Did I learn things from our officially titled Family Deck Build of 2023? Yes, I absolutely did.

I hosted my siblings and some of my extended family this past weekend and I thought about something. My nieces and nephews who are in their early 20s are all looking for jobs, getting their first apartments and otherwise “adulting.” I have a baby, a husband and a mortgage. I am now one of the old people. Here are just a few words of wisdom that I would tell my younger self.

We all know that feeling of too many things going through your mind so you can’t focus on just one. It makes us restless and unsettled. How can we tame the “monkey mind”?

I know I’m not the only one who often struggles with what to say to someone who is going through a hard time and needs support.

Why is it so hard to figure out the right thing to say? Even with the best intentions we often only come up with platitudes or falsely positive statements.

When positive things happen it’s easy, we say congratulations or mazel tov or some other positive variation. But knowing what to say when we hear bad or troubling news is so much harder.

It’s peep show time again! So time to get creative.

For as long as I can remember I loved to read. I remember staying up late as a teenager snuggled up in bed reading the latest hardcover Stephen King book. I just couldn’t put the book down and had to read just one more chapter before closing my eyes.

I have been a backyard beekeeper for several years now. Beekeeping is definitely not an easy hobby but it is rewarding and this year we got honey!

I like to stay busy. Busy with all sorts of things from exercise to reading to baking to crafts; you get the idea. I’ve been called an overachiever and have heard more than once, “when do you sleep?” (for the record I’m usually asleep before 10:45).