Introducing... Mondays with Mom

My sister recently started a blog, and she and I decided that we should have my mom periodically pop over to share her wisdom with the blogging world. She doesn't have the time to keep up a blog of her own, so the second Monday of the month you can find her here! Take it away, mom...


Thanks to Rachel and Laura for inviting me to be a guest blogger on their awesome blogs. It has taken me a week to decide on a topic. I came up with four possible topics…..

• A tribute to our feet (and the need for regular pedicures)
• The 8 minute and 22 second rule (which is the length of time that the average person can wait patiently)
• The joy of doing first time stuff when you are 49 years old
• The art of compromise in a 28.75 year old marriage

And the decision is… the joy of doing first time stuff when you are 49 years old.
Nothing makes you feel more alive than trying something new. You absolutely can teach an old dog new tricks.

Cases in point…

July – I jumped fully clothed (in dressy work clothes) into a swimming pool with a friend. It successfully erased the drama of a bad day at work. For the briefest of moments, when I was airborne with Amy at my side, I considered the insanity of my choice and was delighted to be doing something insane. Afterwards, I went to the grocery store (dripping wet) and smiled confidently at the folks that stared. The jump in the pool and the subsequent drippy trip to the grocery store, were both firsts for me.

August – I took off on a solo adventure to experience the world’s longest yard sale. It started in Gadsden, Alabama and stretches 650 miles ending in Ohio. I covered about 50 miles of the yard sale before succumbing to the draw of a Robert Trent Jones Golf Course nearby. The highlight was finding the KISS statue pictured below…

November - Rachel and Laura convinced me to purchase my first pair of pajama pants. For $2, I acquired hot pink pajama pants from Old Navy (with white skulls and orange hearts). I love them so much that I wore them to the grocery store last week. Within 5 minutes of arriving home from work, I am in my PJ pants. Oh, the joy that I missed by waiting so late in life to embrace pajama pants.



So… cheers to all those brave souls never stop taking on new adventures – I am a proud member of the club.

Footnote… it goes without saying that the BEST first was having my first grandchild (the ever darling Finley) but since I was only 48 when he was born, it can’t technically be included in this post.