Yikes! It’s official, and this will be the one and only time I admit it…I’m 40.  Again I say, yikes!  I have that scene from Friends where Joey is crying about everyone getting older, “Why God? Why?” playing over and over in my head.

I haven’t been looking forward to it, and I’m not “depressed” exactly, but I’m not that pleased about it either.  And it’s not like I didn’t know it was coming…there’s no stopping time.  I suppose the birthday present Mother Nature decided to bestow upon me this morning in the form of a pimple in the middle of my forehead is a good reminder that age really is just a number…Thanks, lady. 😛

I came downstairs this morning to quite the sight – the entire house is decorated in princess decor.  There are metallic colored swirly streamers hanging from the ceiling along with those fan-like circular ones.  There are streamers wrapped around the bannister, around the doors, and even a princess chandelier hanging from the ceiling fan…it’s perfect.  Oh, and I have more presents waiting for me than I’ve had since I was a kid, and The Sis is making me a black forest cake which I had for my 1st birthday…it’s turning out to be quite the day!

I have a friend, who for her 40th did something different everyday for 40 days, but I don’t have that sort of commitment.  I decided to do something that coincides with my age, and how it does ring true that you get more comfortable with yourself with age.  So, I present to you “40 random & true things” about me, in (sort of) chronological order:

1. According to my mother, I was the first girl born to my father’s family in 90 years.  He was English (so I suppose it’s in my DNA) and gave me two middle names.
2. I was born in Canada.
3. Evidently I was a born swimmer, jumping into the pool when I was about 2 with no floaties and no lessons.  I’ve been swimming ever since.  I love the water.
4. I once missed the bus because I forgot my pink elephant, Pinky, for Show-and-Tell.  I still have it.
5. I’m still friends with a girl I met in kindergarten.
6. I used to sleepwalk occasionally as a child.
7. I had (still kind of do have) a fascination with fire, and was caught on occasion playing with it – like burning the back of the seat of my stepfather’s car. Oh yeah.
8. I did not like ketchup until recently, but would eat tomatoes.
9. I used to have the horrible habit of rolling my eyes…at everything and once fought with my third grade teacher about the date.  I argued that the calendar must be wrong.  Wow.
10. I had hair that hung nearly mid-thigh and often pretended to be Madison from Splash – my hair was always green during the summer months.
11. The first boy I ever had a crush on was named Tommy, but I also thought Kenny Rogers was a “fox”.  So there’s that.
12. Tom Jones brought me on stage once and sang to me.  I still have the album he signed for me.
13. I was in fifth grade when we watched the unfortunate events of the Challenger Space Shuttle take off, and I can still remember it clearly.
14. I had my bike stolen in fifth grade from outside my house and I got in trouble for it. I wrote my first “novel” about running away from home because my stepfather was a jerk about it.
15. The book about running away was a school project; we were given a blank hardback book and that was what inspired me to be a writer – the book, not the story. 🙂
16. I was a ballerina for 16 years.
17. I once tried out for cheerleading, but quickly realized it was not for me.  I joined the volleyball team instead, and regularly hated the cheerleaders’ perpetual perkiness.
18. I was the third tallest kid in jr. high behind two boys, Conrad and Dean.
19. I topped out at 6 feet tall by the time I was 18.
20. I had to wear guy’s jeans until I was almost 20 because they were the only pants that had inseam length.  I still have a problem finding clothes that are the right length; my sleeves are always too short, and pants a little high water.
21. I met my best friend, Jill when we were 14 at a church youth group camp.  We thought we’d be pastors’ wives…oh how the times have changed.
22. My mother entered me in a beauty pageant at 15.  I didn’t crack the top 10.
23. I did modeling in my teens and was told by a photographer to lose 10 lbs.  I was 5’10” and 125 lbs at the time.  I quit modeling shortly thereafter.
24. I sang in my junior high and high school choirs.
25. I’ve always had very long hair and when I was 15, I rode a go-cart without a cover on the engine.  My unbound hair whipped in, and I lost nearly half the hair on the left side of my head. I ended up cutting off about 3 feet of hair to get rid of the burnt, mangled bits.
26. I had my first kiss at 16 with my best friend at the time, Eric.  He thought we should lose our virginities together.
27. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was 29 and planned on writing a screenplay about it; the 40-Year Old Virgin beat me to it.  I had a friend who suggested I sell “it” to the highest bidder, like a geisha and at least make a profit.
28. I played volleyball for years, despite not getting my varsity letter my junior year because I went on a French Club trip to see The Phantom of the Opera that coincided with state finals.  I didn’t play my senior year out of spite – still so stubborn.
29. I did not go to my Senior Prom.  The boy I liked thought I was going with someone else and didn’t ask.  At our 10 year reunion he apologized. 🙂
30. I considered being a showgirl, but was told I was too nice for the business.
31. I was 19 when I discovered England was “home”, and the love affair began.  I’ve only been back once since.  Maybe that’s why no place feels like home?!
32. My brother and I thought about opening up a tea shop, and while in research mode, snuck into a tea convention.  Such a rebel.
33. Titanic was the first movie I ever saw alone.
34. I went back to college after a 5 year hiatus and graduated 2 months shy of my 30th birthday.
35. I’ve been a vegetarian for 8 years.  It was then that I discovered I’m lactose intolerant, but I’m never giving up cheese or ice cream!
36. I haven’t been on a date in 5 years, as I swore off men until I got my career off the ground.  I’m willing to lift the ban for the one who “gets me”.
37. I hate horror movies and country music.
38. I have almost every ticket from every movie I’ve ever seen at the theater.
39. I don’t like drugs because of the loss of control.  I’m a bit of a control freak.  I’ve “smoked” like 3 times and did shrooms once.  It caused me to react with this weird hysterical laugh/cry thing that I did not care for.
40. Inevitably, no matter where I work, I get the nickname Princess.  The Sis says it’s because it’s obvious.  My muse –

Goodness, that’s quite the list and reflection on my life.

Thank you all for being a part of the journey!

xx, Rach