I turned 40 years old last week, and Andrew spoiled me by buying me a simply gorgeous bracelet.  I didn’t think I liked pearls, but the one in the bracelet is a really beautiful one.  In different lights it has tinges of orange and pink.

It’s hard to believe I’m now 40 years old.  I was trying to think of where the last 20 years have gone, thinking that they have just flown by, but on reflection quite a bit has happened in that time.  The most memorable (in a good way):

• Getting a job in the water industry (aged 20) which I had for 11 years
• Finishing my microbiology degree (aged 21)
• Bicycle touring in Queensland (aged 22) and South West WA (aged 31)
• Participating in three organised 9 day bicycle rides, the first being the Great Vic Bike Ride on the Great Ocean Road
• Buying a second-hand car and becoming independently mobile
• Buying a new car for its reliability!
• Buying a house (aged 29)
• Training and registering to be in the Anglicare “Friends” programme (I wanted to be a Foster Parent but decided that being a ‘Friend’ was better for me at that time)
• Moving to Sydney (aged 32)
• Working in The Netherlands for 6 weeks (aged ~33)
• Travelling to Europe twice for my holidays
• Travelling to Morocco and China for conferences and extended into holidays
• Learning to play guitar (sort of)
• Buying a flat with Andrew
• Getting engaged and married (aged 37)
• Completing a Masters Degree (aged 38)
• The birth of my first child (aged 38)

Of course there were also memorable events that I don’t look back on so fondly, but they are an inevitable part of life and I won’t go into them in this post.

I guess I haven’t used my time too badly, though I have always thought that I don’t do enough community-related things and have been too work orientated.  I’ve found that having a family has decreased my work ‘drive’ and has found me just appreciating the time I spend with those I love.  And so I guess the next 10 years or so will just fly past with having two children to look after and enjoy watching them grow and develop into little people. 🙂

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.