I am a bundle of contradictions at 35, of details old and young, of emotions and preferences both conflicting and complimentary. As Whitman says, fine, I contradict myself. What else do you expect, after all, for I contain multitudes.
This is what 35 looks like, today.
At night I use both Neutrogena acne cream for occasional pimples and retinoids for the wrinkles around my eyes that show up when I smile and, in truth, when I don’t.
I listen to Taylor Swift and James Taylor, to Raffi and to year-round Christmas carols.
I wear rubber flip flops and 4 inch Manolos.
I don’t have any gray hair but my breasts definitely aren’t what they used to be.
I like my white wine on ice and my water at room temp.
I carry both an iPhone and a blackberry (blackberry only because work won’t support the iPhone).
I have a lot of friends but truly trust very few people.
I read more than 20 magazines monthly and more than 100 blogs a day.
I can recite both Goodnight Moon and Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar by heart.
There are things I want dearly that I can’t have, and things I have that I prize highly.
I still can’t drive a stickshift.
I am one of the most overly sensitive people I know, and I’m still waiting to figure out the way this can be a strength.
I have had a mammogram but the last time I went to the doctor they had to use the child blood-pressure cuff on me.
I aspire to live a life with more stillness, but I move almost always at a frenetic pace.
I drink copious amounts of white wine but am a big chicken about hard liquor or most cocktails.
I own tens of girl-sized logo tee-shirts and approaching fifty cashmere sweaters.
I delivered two children without medication but I complain ad nauseum about a slightly tweaky knee, wrist, ankle, or other assorted aches and pains.
I have used Suave shampoo and Cetaphil for as long as I can remember, and I am utterly incompetent when it comes to makeup.
I like it super cold when I sleep, but I always need to kick a foot out from under the covers.
I hate talking on the phone but could email and text all day long.
I have an MBA but I have little interest in business.
I get a bin of organic produce every week but a lot of the time I eat cheese sticks and red licorice for dinner.
I am tone deaf so I listen to music mostly for the lyrics.
I am terrible at laundry, refusing to sort darks and whites, but very anal about kitchen counters being clean and dishes being put away.
I have two children, including a first grader, and most of the time I’m still waiting for the actual mother to come home.
I hear you on the frenetic pace and the Cetaphil. Though, at 45, the wrinkles are definitely still there when the smile is gone.–Jenn
In terms of being "overly sensitive" do you find that you're pretty intuitive about people? Can you relate well to other people's emotions or pain? Not everyone is good at being empathetic.