Happy Birthday, Amy

I wrote a post about Amy last year a few days after her birthday. In it I described what a sweet, fun, loving girl she's always been. This year's Amy post is going to be an interview AND it's going to be on time - in other words totally different from last year's post. And, as always, each question will be accompanied by pictures that may or may not have anything at all to do with the question.

According to a lot of people (although I know better), this is the big one. How do you feel about turning 40? I feel a little sad to be leaving my thirties and I'm not really freaking out about turning 40, but I do suddenly feel like I'm almost 50.

Do you have any special plans for your birthday? I know that Amber is coming over with the kids to spend the day here so that will be fun. Other than that I don't have any plans.

Do you have birthday wishes? Maybe a special wish list or something special to do to celebrate? I really don't have any birthday wishes or anything specific I'd like to do. I get to be home all day, there aren't any baseball or softball games and I think that's pretty cool. I get to relax!
Does turning 40 inspire you to set new goals or make a bucket list of some kind? Well, I've never really been the kind of person to make a list of goals or have any kind of bucket list, and I guess turning 40 hasn't changed that because I still don't want to! LOL Sometimes I think I should make a list of goals, and then I try to think of some, and can't think of anything so I don't make one.

I know you were laid off from your teacher's aide job due to Michigan's huge education budget cuts. Do you think you'll go back to that field when there's work available again? I think I probably will. I'm going to go to a couple of different districts and get on a sub list to start out, and hopefully I'll stay pretty busy doing that. Sometimes I think it would be cool to find something different, but there aren't many jobs that let you only work when your kids are at school.

Are there other fields that interest you? Not really, I'm pretty boring. I like doing clerical work so I think when I sign up for the sub list again, I'm going to sub for secretaries, too.

What have you done this summer that you're especially happy about? So far I'm happy that we have been on our first camping trip. I really love that my family came to spend Jeremy's birthday with us and I really hope that everyone is coming up for the day on our next camping trip. I can't even describe how much I loved that!

What are your plans for the rest of the summer? We have two more camping trips planned; and the kids are going on vacation with their dad, so it seems that I'll be camping, coming home, cleaning up from one trip, getting ready for the next, and then camping again. It really keeps me busy. Also, I'm looking forward to everyone maybe coming out again when Dan and Teresa and the kids visit.

I know you've recently lost a significant amount of weight and started exercising regularly. There's no doubt that you feel better physically but do you think it also affects your mental state? Absolutely! There's no doubt. I think it affects everything I do. I feel happier, I have a lot more motivation and I actually don't HATE pictures of myself. I think it's going to help when I get back to work too.

How do you like being a grandmother to almost three at your tender age? I LOVE being a grandma right now. It is awesome and I wouldn't have it any other way!

When you were twenty, could you have foreseen yourself where you are now? Hmmmm, I don't think I thought much about where I'd be when I was 40, but I think if I had, this is right were I would have wanted to be - married to a wonderful man, living the kind of life that I'm happy living, having Jeremy and Jenna so happy and active, and being close to Amber & Chris and my grandkids. What more could I want??

And how do you envision yourself at sixty? I think we'll be in a house by a lake and we'll be surrounded by tons of grandkids and everyone will come out to visit all the time and I'll cook and bake and be a very content woman.

What else might others find interesting about you? Nothing, because there really isn't anything very interesting about me. You've covered it all.

I really enjoyed Amy's answers to my interview questions - except for the last one. There's so much interesting about her - she's a lot of fun - party with her sometime and you'll see. She's great at Rock Band and fishing and kids. I can't think of a niece or nephew that she's not special to. She's the first one to pitch in when you need a helping hand. And she's a loving, generous daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, wife, and friend.

So here's wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Amy; and hoping that all your wishes come true!