From This Side of Thirty: A Girl and Her Blog

I lay in bed one night(which happens to be the second best place I do my thinking. First would be the lavatory.) and thoughts of my subsequent birthday ran through my mind months before it actually occurred. I thought of what 30 means. I thought back to how I’ve observed others take the plunge into thirtydom. I thought about the Tim McGraw song, In My Next Thirty Years. Then it led to me thinking about his song Live Like You Were Dying which was just disturbing because there have been times when 30 feels like a death sentence. Especially since I have been bruising easier, going to bed before the news is over, and having a bunion acting up.

Finally that night my thoughts grew a little more upbeat. I thought of myself back at 25, 20 and even the idiot at 16. I am so different now. So much wiser, kinder, and gentler in all things I do. (I realize many of you who know me would use NONE of those words to describe me. Please note that I am not comparing myself to the general public. I am comparing my 30 year old self to my idiot 16 year old self.) Somewhere in all this internal mental babbling I had an idea to write. First the idea was to write a short journal leading up to the big three-O. Later I entertained the idea to start a blog. The next few days/weeks/months were spent in careful consideration of some important factors.

I have considered writing a blog for many years, but I have a problem. I don’t want to start something that I can’t finish. I see many people who start new things with such fervor and excitement only to see it dwindle away when time passes. I too have been guilty of this in some areas, but I find it much easier to focus on other people’s shortcomings rather than point out my own. The other problem I have is that I am procrastinator. There. I said it. I prefer to do everything in life not as it presents the initial opportunity, but in the final countdown to the deadline. This characteristic may relate to the “not finishing things” characteristic in some way. So I eventually decided to completely ignore these two apprehensions and dive right into the world of bloggers.

Another problem I have is the phobia of making typographical errors. When I read texts of any kind I find much delight in finishing without having found a boo-boo. When I come across mistakes in books the credibility of the author, editor and publisher seem to plummet after noticing them. (I am aware I must have some deep issues on this subject, but refuse to deal with them at the moment) I did not want my blog to have any errors. I wanted a blog that was spotless, credible and perfect. I have chosen to attack the phobia head on and do my best at attempting to bring you a flawless blog. Lo and behold! Nothing is perfect. There have been mistakes I have found on an entry and I am doing my best to deal with them the best that I know how. It has been tough but time heals all wounds. (Please take into account that my favorite form of punctuation is an ellipsis…it allows for…a pause…a time to reflect…they are so fun…I …will…stop…now)

I originally set out to create and execute this blog for my kids. I wanted them to always be able to access my life and memories through the written word anytime, but mostly when they are older and don’t think I am the biggest no-nothing dufus of all time. The night I laid in bed anticipating my entrance into the fourth decade I thought a lot about those little rascals. I want them to look back and see the passion with which I parented each of them. For them to know what pleasure and pain they caused their father and I. I want them to read my words and feel the love I have for their dad, the joy(and much sorrow) I experience from loads and loads of laundry, and recognize the moments when Christ has taught me, led me and changed me. The only way I knew how to record all of these things in one place was to blog. Now that I have traveled to planet Blog, I find myself wanting to share all of these things with others. I think of other moms, my extended family, friends I rarely see and so many others that I am writing for.

A good blog needs a good title. I considered many options before narrowing down to a few that were similar to the one I chose. From This Side of Thirty proved to be a good choice because it will last as long as I’d like. It is fact that I will never be on the other side again. All things included in the blog are written and documented from this side of my existence. Even when I am forty, fifty, eighty, I will still be on this side of thirty. Back in my twenties(which sounds like a long time ago but it was just earlier this year), I told my sister-in-law that I think I will call the blog, From This Side of Thirty. Her response? “I think that might already be taken. Have you checked?” After seconds of panic and terror I told her that maybe she thinks that because it is such an awesome name! Come to find out, it wasn’t already taken and it sounded so great simply because IT WAS. I also chose to use the title as my tag line on all posts. Then I had some sort of panic attack that I would write an entry that would not be conducive to ending it with “from this side of thirty”. (Refer to the early text that tells about my fear of not finishing something I start) So I will tag each entry with my title for as long as I can milk it and then I will mourn the day when it becomes no longer so and move on.