41

A week after I recovered from Covid I turned 41. The kids and Randy were still quarantined so we all spent the day at home. It was a lovely day, I had breakfast in bed, watched movies with the kids and then we all dressed up and had a yummy dinner at home. It was exactly the way I wanted to turn 41. It is mind blowing that just a year ago Randy surprised me with a trip to the Maldives for my fortieth birthday. It was only a year ago that we were in the office every day and I needed to take off time for vacation, a year ago that my mom hopped on a flight to Ukraine to visit and watched the kids while we were way, a year ago we took a flight and stayed at a resort without masks and worry, we ate inside the restaurant and didn’t even give a single thought about Covid. What a different world. This year was a lot calmer and while spending my 40th in Maldives was pretty epic, spending the day at home with my family was no less special in it’s own way. The main difference for me in these post Covid days is that there is no where to run off to, nothing pulling my attention away, no guilt about not doing more and I can be happy right where I am.

Now because I love a list more than anything, here are the top ten things I am proud of accomplishing this first year of my forties.

1. I learned to cook. This had a lot to do with Covid, all the spare time I had and not being able to eat in restaurants. I decided to face my fears and start cooking and I have to say besides searing meat I have figured out I am not a bad cook at all.
2. Every single day of Covid, even those first three months where everything was shut down and we hardly left the house I got dressed in real clothes. This may not seem like a big deal, but we all lived through the last year and we all know that it was no small feat to stay out of leggings.
3. I managed to increase my daily run from 4 to 6 miles. This I have Kyiv to thank for. My run in Kyiv is the most beautiful run I have ever had.
4. I focused on my job (when Covid permitted) and I am proud of myself for taking the time to grow at work. I decided to take the challening route which meant more hours and work and I switched to American Citizen services this year and I loved it. It was challenging and interesting and I kept a smile on my face through the entire time.
5. I took time to work on myself and started to realize that self care is not selfish but necessary and healthy. Taking time to myself away from the kids when I wanted/needed is good for everyone.
6. I learned Ukrainian and I used it this year. Not so much at work, more with deliveries and groceries, but I still spoke it and it amazes me all the time.
7. Despite being home with the family ALOT, I was able to appreciate the extra time we all had together at home and the slower calmer pace this year brought.
8. I started reading again after a long break and I remembered how much I loved to read, two favorite reads this year- Circe and Immortalists.
9. I made the most amazing friends. While I have made friends in every place we have lived, it has always taken years and our busy lives meant we would see each other every now and again. Covid meant that I got to spend every weekend and some weekdays with the same four families and I loved every second of it. The four women I got to spend my Covid bubble with kept me sane, laughing and will always be special.
10. I worked on enjoying where I am and not worrying about what happened or what will happen. This is a work in progress, but I have a whole other year before my next birthday.

After our quarantine was over we had our bubble over for a dinner to celebrate both my and Malcolm’s birthday. Malcolm wanted a minecraft cake. My friend Sara told me she would bring a cake, I figured it would be some chocolate or vanilla adult creation. She instead brought this lady lounging in a bathtub cake which I thought was amazing! Despite years and years of getting my kids fun cakes I have never thought of getting one for myself! I loved blowing candles out with Malcolm and celebrating with our friends and family. Also I just realized I spent my last birthday in the Maldives and Malcolm spent his birthday this year in the Maldives! For now I am happy he still wants to celebrate with me 🙂