40 in Australia

Today is my 40th birthday.
Well, actually the day of my birth starts in 2 hours, but I'll be too tired to post at midnight so we'll just improvise.

I was going to write about how the past 40 years have been great and I'm looking forward to the second part of my life and blah, blah, blah but once again I must post about an Aussie insect.

Now, the insect is not necessarily exclusive to Australia. However, since he's hanging out on my window screen right now I am taking creative license to say this specific insect is exclusive to my little neck of the woods. The insect is a Praying Mantis and he has been walking up and down on my window screen all day today.

For now, he's on the outside of the window screen so we are all happy. And to tell you the truth, he's fascinating. He's got big, googly eyes and he turns his head to look at you. I know my American com padres are wondering how big he is so think 3 inches. Large and green. Kaia decided to name him "Leafy". Kaia's playdate thought "Fluffy" was more appropriate. I like the name "Stayoutofmyhouse".

But I digress....I'm 40 years old - Happy Birthday to Me! As much as I would like to be in the States celebrating my 40-ness with friends and family (and summer), I must say my new Aussie mates are doing a fine job of looking after me. Plus the winter here is, well, non-existent. The days are in the low 60's with sunshine. Some gray clouds and rain occasionally, but it certainly is not cold. Nothing a coffee or glass of champagne can't help.

I'm trying to reminisce about my life so far, but I can't help but think about the future. I think it shall be truly interesting. New experiences, new sights and sounds, holding on to family, mixing new friends with old, appreciating the small things in life and being grateful for the larger things as well.

We are off on a much-needed holiday to Dunk Island near the Great Barrier Reef next week.....I'll post about the island insects when I'm back. :)

PUMP you up...(NOT)

A few weeks back, Ben and I joined a health club to get our just-about-40 bodies back into 20-something shape. Ben calls it the "Schwarzenegger-ization of Ben and Maura". The gym is only a 5-minute walk from Kaia's school so I have been very good about dropping Kaia off and getting to the club to "wail on my pecs*". Additionally, the club offers some very fun group classes with names like Body Combat and Body Pump. I've tried some of these classes and found I enjoyed them very much - especially the Body Combat one which employs lots of karate and Tai Chi movements for those days when you pretend you beat the hell out of an imaginary opponent .

Anyway, on Mondays the gym offers a group class called "Body Attack" which consists of 50 minutes of cardiovascular exercise. The instructor is a waif named Kerry who looks like she was born to teach these classes - you know the kind: 0% body fat, smiling the entire class and a perennial optimism even when doing pushups. So we start the class with music blaring and we are all jumping around looking like blobs while Kerry is happily showing us how she can talk normally even with her heart rate pulsating through the roof. We go through our warmup and jump into our "Are you Feeling It Yet????" sequences when about halfway through the Body Attack class we are performing high-step running. Here's the scenario: I'm high-stepping it, left, right, left, right, left and then when right foot comes down I land inappropriately on my ankle which then proceeds to betray my almost-40 body weight. I tumble down, down, down.

Oh the horror!

Needless to say, the ankle was twisted and I was unable to finish the class which is unfortunate because that isn't very Schwarzenegger-like. This is the first time I have ever fallen in a class and I'm wondering is this the classic middle-age "beginning of the end"? Let's hope not.

Ben and Kaia wrapped and iced my ankle for me that evening after I took off my shoe and realized there was a bit more swelling than I originally thought. I'm taking the rest of the week off from the gym which isn't very Schwarzenegger-like either, but is good business for the bakeries and pastry-shops in the area....


*"wail on your pecs" Reprinted without permission from Beth Somers