Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman

That's the title of the book I just read, it has nothing to do with the fact I just colored my hair again, or had two glasses of sparking white wine in the middle of the afternoon, OK? Yeah, just so you know.

I stole the book from my sister... Bunny? Amber? Sandi? Anyway, it was on her bookshelf, and she's not the biggest reader around. So I thought to myself, if it's on HER shelf, it must be good, right? Right.

So I read it. It's written by Elizabeth Buchan. It was one of those read all night books, because after all, it is a holiday weekend, and nothing says holiday to me more than reading all night! And yes, for anyone who's interested, it was a very good book.

It was about a 40 something woman who was married for 20 something years. Which is pretty familiar for me. She was very happily married, but then all of a sudden out of nowhere, her husband decided to dump her. (OK, it was out of nowhere for her, but as the reader you knew it was coming.) (And obviously, the dumping part is NOT familiar to me. Frank and I've discussed it, and he isn't dumping me -- and I'm not dumping him.) (Of course, then I'D be really surprised like her!)

The idea was that he dumped her because she confined him -- their relationship confined him. But he dumped her for a younger woman... and in the end, it was obvious that she had lost the confinement, and he had just traded one cage for another. All in all, quite a satisfying book, if not the best I've ever read -- certainly worth reading.

It made me think about turning 40; I always thought that turning 50 would be hard, because it would be the beginning of old age. But for some reason, when I turned 40 I was more stressed out than I expected. And every year that has passed since then I've been feeling more obviously "old." Until just recently, when I realized...I've already hit 50. Well, not really. But I've become what I expected to BE at 50. It just happened sooner than I'd planned. For some reason, my body wasn't in on the plan I'd made, which was to be young until I turned 50 and then to start getting older at that point.

So I've realized from these ruminations, and from reading this book -- the plan I had for my life for once I hit 50 needs to go into effect NOW. I can't wait for my timetable any longer. I have to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak, and start living my life a little more fully -- like I thought I would do once I hit 50.

Bucket list? Life list? Things I want to do before I die? Well, now is a good time to start thinking about that, isn't it? Who knows, maybe I'll be hit by a bus tomorrow.