44 things I loved about being young(er)

<sigh>

I am facing the last 10 days of my youth (by "youth" I mean being under age 45). On Friday the 19th of May, I officially hit "middle age". I think I need a tequila shooter. A real big one. And fast. Join me, won't you? I hate to drink alone.

To commemorate this rite of passage, I decided to make a list of 44 things I enjoyed most or am most grateful for about the first 44 years of my life, in no particular order or priority. Ready? Set? Go!

1. Chocolate (this will be on my favorites list for life.)
2. Sex (at least, from what I remember. It's been a while.)
3. Seeing Paris for the first time.
4. Seeing Paris for the second time.
5. The first time I kissed a boy who really knew how to kiss well. Yowza!
6. Kissing ANY man who knows how to kiss really well (the thrill of a good kiss never gets old.)
7. Learning French (this would also go on my "most frustrating things" list, if I were writing one.)
8. Playing the xylophone in the high school band.
9. Being tapped to play an entire song written for xylophone (with orchestra as back-up) for school concert, and playing it perfectly.
10. Being in the band and chorus in school... great fun, great kids.
11. My baby pictures (wish I could say I like having my picture taken as much today.)
12. Helping my maternal grandmother pick string beans in the garden, and the little cocktail franks she used to make for my sister and I when we were little and visiting at her house.
13. A good frozen margarita (hold the salt, please).
14. Being an aunt. There is nothing like the unconditional love of a child, and I get to be Aunt Lisa to the best kids ever.
15. Being a great writer. It's one thing I have no trouble saying, out loud, that I'm really gifted at doing.
16. The Swiss alps in winter. Awesome and breathtaking, and the air smells so pure and clean (nothing like New Jersey).
17. Reconnecting with God after a lengthy absence.
18. Performing in stage plays (school and community theatre, not Broadway - yeah, don't I wish!)
19. Watching my niece perform in stage plays (crossing my fingers she takes it all the way to the top if that's what she wants to do!)
20. My best friend, Wendy. I have a number of wonderful friends but it's rare you find someone you love unconditionally and who loves you the same way, someone who knows all your secrets (and you, theirs) but who never rats you out but has no problem tossing them back in your face when necessary, AND someone you can laugh your ass off with over absolutely nothing -- all wrapped up in the same package. What a gift!
21. The Napa Valley. Wine, sunshine and ambience. Doesn't get much better than that.
22. Watching whales 25 miles out at sea near downtown Boston.
23. The pets in my life, now long gone but much loved: Pal (mutt), Buff (orange tabby cat), Maurice (French poodle), and Sailor (Sheltie).
24. Champagne!
25. Books and reading!
26. Finding the perfect pair of shoes.
27. Getting the perfect haircut.
28. Having learned what it feels like to experience the satisfaction of working really hard at something and succeeding at it.
29. Sunrises and sunsets - especially on the beach.
30. The beach - any hour of the day.
31. Seashells and seaglass.
32. The first moment I saw my newborn nephew for the first time, when he was only 1 hour old. I fell in love instantly... and can't believe he's in college now. He's still the most beautiful baby I ever saw in my life (apologies to his younger sister).
33. Candlelight.
34. Van Gogh. Renoir. Monet. Rodin. Jackson Pollack (who I only learned to appreciate since "Mona Lisa Smile" came out). Marc Chagall. Paul Klee (see a pattern here - my favorite artists make life more beautiful).
35. Beethoven. Bach. Vivaldi. Mozart. Chopin (same pattern with my favorite classical composers - especially Chopin).
36. Good health (that time in 1996 when I broke my leg was my own damn fault. Lesson: Live, learn and watch where you're going on the stairs.)
37. Crème brulée -- in Paris, bien sûr.
38. The ability to put things into a healthy perspective. I didn't always have that, but now I do. Most of the time.
39. My sense of humor. And the millions of times I've gotten to express it in the past 44 years.
40. My creativity.
41. My spirituality.
42. Any movie with Hugh Grant or Colin Firth or Richard Gere.
43. Family and friends who genuinely care about me.
44. Being alive and well and able to see 45.

I could keep going and going, because of course there aren't ONLY 44 things I'm happy about with my life so far. These were just the first 44 that came to mind.

Now, here's my challenge to YOU: make your own blog list, based on your current age, about what YOU have loved or appreciated most about your life to this point, and share it with the rest of us by posting a comment here with your link to that list. I'll post a list here with links to everyone else's list. It's good to put your appreciation and gratitude "out there" in the world... God knows we need to focus on the good things in life more often!

Meanwhile, I will be counting down the last 10 days of my youth in a variety of moods:

• Wistfully ("Where did it all go?")
• Defiantly ("Middle age can kiss my ass! I'm not going quietly!")
• Angrily ("Who ordered these wrinkles and hot flashes?")
• And curiously ("Now that I have all this life wisdom and experience and I know who I am, let's see what I can REALLY do with it over the next 45 years!")