forty.

My blog has been left unattended for quite some time, and I was surprised to find that it hadn't written itself about all that has happened the last few weeks. I had a landmark birthday two weeks ago: the big 4-0.  Either I have been acclimating to it for awhile or I am in denial, because it hasn't really hit me.  No big breakdown, crisis moment, no "How did I get here??"  In part, it doesn't hurt that I'm in a good place in my life: Two young, wonderful children, a great husband, I'm in great shape, I'm healthy, and I have the best family and friends a person could ever hope for.  I would even go so far as to say that Forty was the best birthday yet.

I had a party to mark the celebration. Since I plan parties for a living, I finally wanted my own party- in our backyard (which thanks to HGTV was given an amazing backyard makeover nearly two years ago), with friends, family and a hint of a tropical (think Southeast Asia tropical, not Hawaii...) theme to go with it.  I posed the idea to a few close friends who jumped in to help- some with financial support for food, some with time spent helping the caterer prepare the food, some with generous contributions like providing the bar and bartender (!!) It was truly a night I will remember forever.

I thought I would fill this birthday post with words of wisdom...words that you can only bequeath by reaching the ripe age of 40. But, really, I don't feel any different. Not older or wiser, just the me that I have been working on, slowly and steadily for forty years.

So, yeah...40.

It's just a number.