What's in a number?

Last month I turned 30 years old.  Many women loathe turning 30.  In fact, I have a colleague (and good friend) who has the exact birthday as me.  She turned 30 too.  She had a bit of a mid-life crisis.  Lol.  She broke up with her long-time boyfriend, got a tattoo, etc.  Don't get me wrong -- I love tattoos!  I plan on getting one in the future; I even know what it will look like.  I just can't justify spending the money at the moment when I have plenty of bills to pay and other things that need taken care of first.  We joked about her having a mid-life crisis, but I started wondering... Should I be having one then?  Why wait until 30 to evaluate your life?  Can any day be the day of your enlightenment, liberation, etc?

A lot of my family (especially extended) keep asking me, "When do we get the wedding announcement?"  I used to answer, "I gotta get a boyfriend first!"  My bf and I have been together for almost 4 years.  Neither of us are hell-bent on marriage; we're kind of jaded by it.  Marriage isn't what it used to be -- married people have affairs, are unhappy, and/or get a divorce, etc.  Sometimes those divorces are not fair to one side or the other.  Families are split apart and turned against one another because of it.

When I was in Maryland for my Uncle Charlie's memorial service in July, I mentioned to my parents that I was slowly getting annoyed by the constant inquiries of when I will get married.  Mom and Dad got rather perturbed by my comment and said, "That's what normal people do!  They get married!  They have a family!"  I was rather upset by their outburst.  It's my life!  I will live it however I see fit.

Marriage is not on my list of priorities and it's not my boyfriend's either.  Neither of us want children.  Both of these are our prerogatives.  I wish people would just accept that not everyone has a desire to procreate.

So I'm not dumping my bf.  I'm saving the tattoo for later.  I'm not buying an expensive sports-car (that's on my bucket list though ;) ).  So did I have a mid-life crisis?

I would say that I've had many wake up calls the last 12 months.  Triathlons started out as a "why not?"  So  gave it a half-hearted go.  Lol.  The aim was to finish, and I did -- 3 times.  Then the wake up calls started and I got more focused.  More driven.  I hired an awesome swim coach.  His calm but focused demeanor inspired and motivated me.  I had success at my first tri of this season.  Then I did a fun ride on GA400 in July.  Just for the hell of it.  I have two more triathlons (Aug & Sept).  I'm curious to see how I've improved and how else I can improve my game.  :)  Now I've signed up for a charity ride.  I plan on riding 60+ miles.  I've never done that before!  The furthest I've ever gone is just shy of 30.  This ought to be interesting.  Hopefully, it'll boost my confidence as well.

I asked my bf if I had a mid-life crisis.  He replied, "Well...  Why all the triathlons, duathlons, cycling, and what-not?"  I suppose if this would be called a mid-life crisis, it's a healthy and productive one.  Lol.

Keep it real.  ;)