The stats:

Height: 5’3″
Weight: 145 (on a very good day)
Dress size: 8
BMI: Don’t even want to know
Complexion: Fair but not Irish
Skin Profile: Pretty good, a few creases around the mouth and eyes when I smile, and a few sun spots, but still looking really good, actually
Hair: 25% salt, 75% pepper without the salon; 100% pepper with the salon 🙂
Bust: Ginormous

Blood pressure: 123/70
Cholesterol: normal (don’t remember the exact numbers)
Blood sugar: normal
General health: good
Activity level: shitty
Alcohol: why yes! 3-4 glasses of wine per week, sometimes swapped with a beer
Diet: OK, but way too many Cheetos and a really crummy water intake
Stress: too much anxiety, now mostly self-induced
Sleep: 6-7 hours per night, on average, sometimes 8
Meds: hormone for my thyroid and a multivitamin

Age: 39

When I was a teenager and watching “Thirtysomething” on TV, little did I know that the next time that show popped into my head, I’d already be at the north end of that definition. I’m now older than Mel Harris or Ken Olin or the hot guy with the little blonde beard who played the piano (Peter Horton–that’s the guy). And 40 means something different to me than I thought it would. It doesn’t mean “old” and it doesn’t represent weathered departure from the throng of mainstream progress in life. I don’t find myself becoming a “down and goer” versus and “up and comer” and I fully expect my quality of life, social circle, income and health and well-being to continue on the rise over the next decade.

And I have lived, I can say I’ve truly lived, my thirties. I got divorced, got married, owned a home, rented homes, switched jobs five times, drank wine in Tuscany, cried some, laughed a lot more, loved a whole lot, lost weight, gained weight, lived abroad, lost a parent, and became a mother. I can say farewell to this decade with love and compassion, and look ahead with clear eyes to the adventures to come.

Which brings me to the topic of this blog. I intend my forties to be the sexiest decade of my life. There is no reason I can’t–I’m starting with a good foundation, I am (thank God) in good health, and have all the contextual ingredients in hand to make it work. All I need to do is do it. Clearly, there are some elements that I’ll need to focus on in order to get to Uber-Hot on the Torrid Forties barometer, but I can do it, and through this blog I’ll share it with you.

So let’s take off. Fasten your seatbelts and hold onto the handrails. The vehicle is in motion, with planned stops at the head, heart, mind, body and spirit, and we’re taking a suitcase full of deep and a jugful of funny with us on the way to forty-something phenomenal. Take that, Mel Harris.