Hello, er...40!

Today is Friday of Birthday Weekend. I am not working today, getting home stuff done that has been languishing while I've been marathon reading and writing for the last...forever. And having a leisurely lunch and nail appt with Jana. Nice way to start the new year/decade/life, part II.

Anyway, this birthday is one where people like to take stock, look at their lives so far, look ahead, mull, evaluate. Not a bad exercise...

Aside from the typical why-didn't-I-figure-that-out-sooner! moments, life's been pretty darn good and satisfying. When I was a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to do after college. I imagined myself married by 27 (...???). Though I consciously envisioned myself with a Career, I've recently realized that the only career I could actually picture was being a housewife. That was a shocking realization, but it makes sense: my mom, my first and most influential role model, was a full-time stay-at-home mom, and a darn fine one at that. It's a tough job...and one that does not fit me at all. However, it took me a gazillion years to finally land on what I should be doing after twisting around down some inappropriate (and expensive) for me paths. I've always had a sense that I'm here to do something, and I'm so glad I've found what that something is.

I think my biggest...not regret, not disappointment...wish is that I had not listened to the messages in my head that said "you are not good at math" and "you don't like science" -- because guess what? I CAN do math. Dare I say, I even LIKE it. And I DO like science. Had I known this long ago, my path to the really satisfying "should be doing" part of my life would have been much, much shorter. However, there's no reason to dwell on this now, other than to make sure that my kids have access to the fun of math and the fun of science, and let them make career plans based on real information rather than unhelpful (and unhealthy) BS internal messages.

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There is more to say on this general topic...but I'll have to tackle it later. Birthday kick-off awaits!

On my way back

Since June 2010, I have written more than 200 pages and read more than 100 journal articles. I've birthed a general exam and an 8 lbs baby. But I've missed my blog, and I'm ready to write about something besides aphasia, working memory and cognitive inhibition. Seriously.

I'll do that before the end of this week.