by Sarah | Jul 19, 2012 | 45 before 45, All About Me, Blogging Life, Get Fit - Or Kill Myself - Whatever Comes First, Indy Geek Girls, Story of Me
[flickr id=”7598819772″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]*Showing off my new haircut. HUGE change here – took off 8-10 inches, people. Loving it!
Yesterday I turned 36. I’ve realized in recent months that I always demure “30-something” when referring to my age; and maybe it’s my new haircut, maybe it’s the events of the past year, or maybe I’m just growing up – but I realized I don’t like that I do that.
I need to own my age.
After all, my teenage years sucked. My 20’s were short-lived as I got pregnant right before my 21st birthday and had to become responsible for a young life that wasn’t my own. I became a mother three times in my twenties, a wife once. I bought a house, went into debt and started the isolation of a mom of very young special needs children.
Now I’m 36.
While we’ve had our struggles in our marriage (2 brief separations), Erik and I are finally reaching a new level of communication and cooperation. After 10 years my marriage is growing into a much stronger and powerful force.
My children’s needs and demands on my time have eased into a comfortable realm. While I still struggle with the demands on my time, and probably always will, there is now a level of relaxation in there. We’re “used to” the struggle and know how to power through it.
My 30’s have seen my return to my love of writing, I’ve found myself published, and I’ve written several novels that are either ready or almost ready to put out into the world to find a home.
While my 30’s have also seen me enter menopause (thanks to my emergency hysterectomy), and the failure of my body to maintain shape as I gave into the comfort of SAHM-hood…My later 30’s are seeing me return to exercise. My progress is slow and I fail, but I am working toward being strong & healthy again. Getting in shape is more important than the number on the scale, and I’m feeling the changes as they happen.
The best part of my 30’s has been the reintroduction of friendships – of a LIFE – into my life. My “fake” online friends have become real. I finally got to meet my BFF Jess in person a couple of years ago, and she’s returned the favor by coming here. Thanks to this blog (also started at the cusp of my 30’s) I’ve found a community of bloggers here in Indiana that are beyond comprehension in their awesomeness. We support each other, we help each other – and most importantly, we find ways to get together and develop that community in person. Girls nights, major events, smaller day trips. They are a real and present force in my life now.
I am 36.
I am in the prime of my life and proud of it.
by Sarah | Jul 1, 2012 | All About Indiana, All About Me, Blogging Life, Community, Indy Geek Girls
For approximate forever I’ve been wanting to see Cirque du Soleil. So when Emily hosted a giveaway I ran over to sign up to enter.
I literally bounced around in my seat when I got the email telling me I won.
My wonderful husband Erik was a no-go on tickets. For some reason the man has something against men in spandex. Me? I have no such qualms – but I needed a date.
Of course the first person I asked was the person I told I would ask if I won – Casey. Then, to give us a proper ‘girls night’, Emily’s husband backed out to leave room for Shireen – and our party was complete.
I’m not sure what I was more excited for – Cirque, or girls night.
For dinner we did Santorini’s with a little OPA!! (i.e. saganaki) thrown in. I shared the Chef’s special with Casey…and if there had been more of the Spanokopita we might have had a throw-down over it – it was that good.
Then it was onto Quidam.
Casey described it as a panic attack brought to life (the first half). While filled with impressive feats of strength and agility – the amount of disturbing images included left us a little disoriented.
The second half by far topped the first, disturbing imagery and all. I absolutely loved it and would go back again – just not to Quidam. I’d pick another show. While I loved all the artistry and amazing acts – I think my favorite was the Clown. He brought in some audience participation and laughs that were needed among floating zombie heads and gaping chest wounds (yes. You read that right).
Then again, my real favorite part of the night was getting out with friends. Laughing and sharing the evening with them. Spending time with people that are like me and share the same interests and struggles. It’s something I don’t think I do often enough. it’s easy to get lost in responsibility – sometimes we need to get lost in laughter with friends to make the rest of it possible.
*~*~*
Photo credit to Cirque du Soleil. We weren’t allowed cameras 😉
by Sarah | Jun 4, 2012 | All About Indiana, All About Me, Blogging Life, Giveaway, Indiana Fever, Indy Geek Girls
On Saturday night I got to take in the wonderful experience of an Indiana Fever game. Never having been a huge basketball fan (what separates me from the true Hoosiers), I mostly signed up for the amazing company of the Indy Geek Girls.
Turns out, the WNBA is a lot of fun!! The women play hard, the games are intense but go by fast, and the Fever LOVES families!!
For the Geek Girls, the Fever were marvelous and put us up in the Legends Suite.* From there we had a fantastic view of the court – or the numerous TV’s that were showing every minute of the action. We also had seats around the suite if we wanted to get the arena effect.
Those that say the WNBA is “just” a girls league really needs to go to a game. These women bring it like you wouldn’t believe! I think it’s the first time I’ve enjoyed a basketball game. The women that do this job do it because they love it. They don’t make millions of dollars like the big name men – in fact many of them have to work the off season playing in other countries! The amount of commitment and dedication they have for the game made me appreciate the sport like I haven’t before.
It’s something I would take my girls to, so they could see what it means to do something you love. No matter what the critical men say about what you can do.
The tickets for a game aren’t that expensive. Even better? For their Saturday games they have family night – where for just $13 you get your ticket, Pepsi, chips, a hot dog, and a T-shirt! What’s better than that? Every ticket at Banker’s Life is a great seat, so it’s worth it.
And just to prove that point, the Fever is offering all of you a tremendous discount to come to their next game.
For the June 8th game against the Connecticut Sun, you can get two tickets almost free! All you have to do is pay the $.75 per ticket TM fee. That’s $1.50 to go see an amazing game! Mom’s & Dad’s – this is a great chance to take your daughter out and see what the WNBA is all about!
To cash in on this amazing deal just go here, and select the June 8th game:
www.wnba.com/fever/offer.html
If June 8th doesn’t work for you, please remember the family nights. The remaining Saturday games are: 6/16, 7/7, 8/18 and 9/1.
One last way to save some money – Tuesdays and Thursdays are two for one ticket prices on all levels. My recommendation? Snap up July 10th (a noon game) while you can. It’s Freddy Fever’s birthday – and he brings all his mascot friends along for the fun! It’s perfect for the kids, who doesn’t love to see mascots roaming everywhere?
So now go and pick up some tickets. I promise, you won’t be disappointed – and that’s saying a lot coming from someone that would never watch a basketball game until now.
*~*~*
*Disclaimer: Indiana Fever put us up in the Legends Suite. We heard the words of the wonderful team of leaders for the Fever, we ate food, had drinks, and excellent conversation. All opinions in here are my own. I truly was impressed with the whole organization.
by Sarah | Jun 3, 2012 | All About Me, Blogging Life, Books, Changing Tracks, Indiana Family of Farmers, Indiana Fever, Indy Geek Girls, Writing
[flickr id=”5074952547″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]The past twenty four hours have been a whirlwind. A crazy whirlwind of amazing awesomeness that I can hardly begin to describe.
Seeing as this is blog specifically for that, I’m going to try. All of the awesomeness will see its own post (or two) this week, so for now I’m going to bullet point the awesomeness and then start prepping posts for the rest of the week to fill you up.
* First my husband and I went to Vintage Indiana (Thank you, Indiana Family of Farmers). We sampled, we walked, we ate and we bought. We discovered a winery we didn’t know about and brought home a few bottles of deliciousness.
* After that I met my friend and neighbor and went to an Indiana Fever Game. They put us up in the Legends suite and it was amazing. Good food, good drinks, good friends, good game (side note: we won!)
* The ever beautiful Casey had a phone that I could replace mine with after the loss I suffered last week. My Thunderbolt is gone, but I welcome in the Droid Bionic w/ open arms. We came this close to agreeing to a date to see Barry Manilow together…but alas she will be at Blogher. Such a shame…we could have been part-time Fanilow’s together.
* Did I mention the Fever game? Yeah, that meant I got to hang out with the awesomeness that is the Indy Geek Girls. The blogging community in Indy is Da-Bom’…and I loves me ladies.
* After all of that fun I came home and checked my email – to find an offer on my novel!!! I literally fell off the couch when I read the email. Yes, literally. Just ask Erik or Denver – they were there.
* Once I finally got to sleep – I woke up to find another requested full for my novel. I’d entered a pitch contest on a whim and a tiny prayer – & that publisher wants to see it too!
* Today I found out what was causing Erik’s phone to be painfully slow and it appears to be fixed. The man is very happy.
So today I’ve been sending out emails, fulls and updates to those that have my work. I’ve contacted a lawyer to look at the contract I received to help me make this difficult decision (I may not like the contract, or get the answers I want to my questions). Even though I’ve waited a very long time for an offer – I won’t just jump on it. There are a lot of points to weigh and I plan on weighing each of them carefully and with as clear a head as I can.
So as the week goes on, you’ll learn more about much of the events of the past 24 hours. right now I’m still a bit giddy so you get the info dump! More soon, I promise!
