I Support Cheerleaders

The house smells like a restaurant right now. Roast chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and huckleberry muffins are all competing for dominance. It's an amazing thing, the way a delicious meal cooked from scratch can make a house feel like a home.

There are signs of fall everywhere. The days are growing shorter; we're losing a minute or two of daylight every evening, and again, in the mornings. No longer is there light streaming into the bedroom before 5 AM, and it's dark again at a reasonable hour. Rain began falling overnight, and lasted nonstop until early afternoon; my rain gauge shows we received .83" with showers expected to continue the next two days. This is my favorite time of year.

Today was also a rare Saturday where I did practically nothing. Slept in, had cinnamon raising toast and coffee on the patio while reading the paper, then played the Wii for awhile before finally showering at noon. Then I ran a couple of errands - Target and Trader Joe's - while the kids stayed home. This afternoon I whipped up the aforementioned meal, and everything turned out fantastic, even if it did take me three tries to perfect the muffins (my own fault; apparently I can't read a recipe worth crap - I think I'll leave the baking up to Crystal). Had a couple of rum and Cokes while dinner was cooking. Tonight, we'll watch a movie - I have to pick one from my collection that is suitable for all of us. I don't think Season 1 of True Blood, which arrived from Netflix the other day, is appropriate for the kids. Damn it all.

It's been a lazy and relaxing day, but just what I needed after this past week. School started on Wednesday, and while I'm glad the kids have gone back, it's definitely more work for me. I get up half an hour earlier every morning, and we arrive home later. I can't believe Jason is in high school! That makes me feel old. It was strange, dropping him off for his first day; the school was packed with students, most of whom looked considerably older than my son, and there were even cheerleaders greeting the students outside the main entrance. Ahh, to be a teenager again...sometimes I am envious of Jason. He's got his whole life spread out before him, a blank canvas, and truly the best is yet to come. Although, I still feel that way myself sometimes...I just wish I had maybe ten more years to work with. Being 40 sucks. There was a t-shirt I saw today at Target that said "I Support Cheerleaders." It showed silhouettes of cheerleaders waving pompoms, jumping, and frolicking. I happened to be on the phone with Crystal at the time and told her about it, and she talked me out of buying it. "Maybe if you were 18 or 19," she said, "But you're 40. It just comes across as creepy." Sigh. Being 40 sucks! Inside, I'm still that 18-year old.

And, I might add, I wholeheartedly support cheerleaders.

But I suppose she's right. Even though I often forget I'm not still in my early 20s, well, I'm NOT. I may not act my age, but that doesn't mean I'm not my age.

Ten more years would be awesome (see, how many 40 year olds use the word "awesome"?). On the one hand, I'm thankful that MA and I got divorced at a relatively young age. We were both still 37. If we'd waited until the kids were out of school, well, we wouldn't have split up until we were nearing 50. And what's the point then?

I should just thank my lucky stars I'm "only" 40.