Ramblings of a 30-year-old

On Saturday, I told my husband that I thought I should start wearing lipstick.  He immediately told me rather matter-of-factly that is the kind of decision that most 12-year-old girls make, not 30-year old women.  That made me laugh out loud.  In fact, it still makes me laugh out loud.  Oh, Wagner.   

Despite the relatively lackluster response from my husband, I bought a tube of lipstick at the Giant grocery store the very next day.  My first tube of grown-up person lipstick.  For those of you who might think this is really, really strange, it most definitely is.  However, I spent my most formative adult years after college in the Peace Corps. Then I was a social worker mostly trying not to garner any sort of attention from adolescent males.  And then I ended up here, and I thought I could spruce things up a little bit.   Maybe someday I’ll get around to doing my nails! 

And in other news, the woman sitting next to me on the metro this afternoon looked really nice, and she kept smiling at me.  And then she asked me where I was going, so I told her and asked her the same question.  Then she started telling me all about how she never takes the metro and how it was such an adventure to figure out where she was going.  We chatted for a bit, and then I told her to enjoy her journey, and I got off at Gallery Place/Chinatown for my malaria lecture. 

I saw this article in the Onion a few days ago, and it also made me laugh out loud.  It was entitled, “Grown adult actually expects to be happy.”  The first paragraph went something like this: 

According to incredulous sources, local hardware store employee and grown adult human being Rob Peterson, 37, actually expects to be happy in life.  Despite possessing a fully developed brain and a general awareness of the fundamental nature of existence, sources said Peterson apparently continues to believe that achieving life-lasting happiness is somehow possible. 

Really?  It’s that crazy to want happiness in life that the Onion writes a parody about it and puts it on the front page? I guess it’s funny because I’ve recently learned that being happy is a feeling.  (Do I sound like I just graduated kindergarten??)  You can’t possibly be happy all the time.  You can, however, have joy every single day.  Unwavering, underlying joy.  And within that joy, we can be really pissed off that it’s raining and forgot our rain boots or sad because so many things are beyond our control. 

Now I’m reminded that we have a really good life.  A really joyful life.  I’m not always happy, that’s for sure.  I don’t always remember to count my blessings.  And sometimes I behave in ways that I’m embarrassed of later – most of those episodes I save for my incredibly lucky husband.  But, nonetheless, we’re lucky and blessed.  I can enjoy the small things, like a hot shower and a cup of Sunday morning coffee.  A cuddly dog.  Burritos.  And the big things like good families.  Love.  Friendships. 

So here’s to enjoying the journey. 

Also, I’m really not sure why I have to refrigerate my organic no-stir peanut butter.  I’m also not sure why I didn’t realize it so it’s been sitting on my shelf for the last week and a half.  That won’t kill me, will it?  Any thoughts?