Track #1--"My Next 30 Years"

"Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years"

~Tim McGraw

Facebook fans, twitter followers, and real-life friends and colleagues:

This is my new blog.

Bookmark it. Wait on the edge of your seat for every update and tweet. I have arrived.

For those of you who have followed my many attempts at blogging since 2001, (yes, I have been blogging before they were called weblogs) I am planning on keeping this one for the long haul.

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They (friends, media, family) tell me life begins at 30. I am sure when I hit the big 4-0, that will change (to make me feel better, no doubt), but I am not sure if I am buying into that cliche yet.

Sure, I got a new car at 30 (because I wrecked the one I had for nearly a decade before). I hurt my neck twice. What kinda chick walks with a hunchback at 30? Hopefully not me, if my chiropractic bills have anything to say about it.

With thirty has come a new sense of freedom, however. I no longer give a crap what anyone else thinks. OK, that may be a bit of a stretch. I respect the opinions of my colleagues, I want people to enjoy my writing, and I want my family to understand how important they are to me. But. . .I am sick of living every minute based on someone else. I choose to take on extra work in my job if it is actually something I want to do. I don't do it to suck up or get ahead. I'll wear my hair two-toned if that (the roots are a little long, not gonna lie), and when I notice that first gray hair, I will not cry. (I am practicing that mantra.) I'll broadcast my affinity for so-called teeny bopper shows like "Glee" and (gasp) "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" without claiming I am watching them for educational purposes. And I will eat the food my man makes me because I love food. I love food a lot. Just ask the 40 lbs. I have put on since we met.

I am done with the first third of my life, peeps. This is the best part of my test drive. I am hitting the gas full speed in my new vehicle, and if I get pulled over, tough. It's my life. Deal with it.