Memories at 36

I've been having trouble organizing my thoughts for while now. I remember a time when I could write a decent poem in five minutes flat, and essays flowed easily. These days, every time I play a card game, I have to be reminded of the rules. This includes poker and Go Fish, but lately has extended to Exploding Kittens and Bears vs Babies. It's really strange when I think about it, since I have a veritable font of knowledge about certain things stored in my head. It's like my brain does spring cleaning every once in awhile, and decides to keep the most random and useless stuff:

How to change a tire? . . . Nah, I'll just keep the ASL sign for "turtle" I learned in 3rd grade. 

World history? . . . Hmmmm, nope, but I can still ask how the weather is in French.

Geography? . . . I can count to 10 in Japanese, but might have trouble labeling some countries on a map.

Zoology? . . . I can't even remember which animals we dissected in that class . . . But I can hold a conversation on the merits of 90s grunge music.

Baby CPR? . . . Um, that class was over 10 years ago . . . But I could still play my high school's fight song if you handed me a tenor sax- and I learned that 20 years ago.

The list is long.

Basically, I can remember some details of every book I've ever read, but not the US capitals.  I can tell a Nora Roberts book just from the way she writes.  I can hold long discussions about MANY authors, and I keep in reserve well-formed arguments for or against a certain few. You need me to name an Australian writer? I can name two off the top of my head. You wanna debate sci-fi vs fantasy? Bring it.  You seriously want to ask me for a romance author recommendation? Sit down and get prepared for a lengthy conversation on the many sub-genres of romance, including examples of each along with my personal favorites and a link to Smart Bitches Trashy Books.

So yeah, as of this writing, I will be 36 in a little over one hour. I thought I would be a different sort of human being by this age . . . But at least I can finally say that I feel happy most of the time these days.  I credit daily doses of vitamin D, a job that I LOVE, and my precious boys. It really is amazing what a mood-lifter the feeling of usefulness is. My job gives me sense of purpose that just being a wife and mother did not. And I CANNOT overstate the value and importance of vitamin D for people who don't spend much time outside.

I can look at my life and say that I would be very content if I could just get my body to cooperate.