SFB's...the good, the sweet, the "easier"...

Some winter days can be so long!  Like today.  My daughter's cheer season is over.  No more basketball games to go to in the evening.  It's too miserably freezing cold to be outside working in the yard.  I've been in my house all day long....how much more laundry can I do?  So about 4:30 pm, right after the Girl Scout cookies were delivered, I demanded that my daughter accompany me to the gym.  I had already worked out today...I just needed to get out of the house.  My my how things have changed over the years.

My husband is a CPA.  His first job out of college was with Arthur Andersen, one of the then "Big Eight" accounting firms.  They owned him.  His schedule was not his own.  I got pregnant with my oldest child just a couple of months after he started working there.  I could never ask when he would be home, or plan on him for dinner.  Sometimes he would call me from the client's office and let me know he was heading home, sometimes not.  Yes...that was before cell phones.  I spent many, many nights with first one, and then two little boys on my own.  And in the winter, those were even longer days in Massachusetts.  Heading out to a gym just was not an option for me.  We couldn't afford the costly memberships.  And so, a trip to the McDonald's Playland was a special treat.  But usually, it was just a really long afternoon and evening inside the house.  And I'll admit it, it usually included a video (or two)...Barney, Aladdin, The Lion King...those were some of the favorites.  I gave the boys a bath, read stories, said prayers...usually before my husband got home.  Those were LONG days.

This picture literally hurts my heart...I miss them!

As I was burning extra calories on the stair climber this afternoon, I realized today's Sweet Fringe Benefit.  I have so many more options open to me on these long winter evenings...with my husband's career being more established, children that have grown and are independent, and affording a gym membership...all are a result of being 49.  Oh I do love the memories of my little boys.  They were active...and wore me out.  And you know what I say...if I could have them little again, sleeping in their bunk beds just one more night, I would.  But I can't.  So I'm finding all the good I can in this stage I'm in...going to the gym with my somewhat willing 14 year old is pretty darn sweet to me.  It kept me away from the cookies, and broke up a long afternoon and evening.

This is what Sweet Fringe Benefits (sfb's) are all about:  finding the good, the sweet, the "easier" in my life at 49 years old, instead of focusing on the "nasties" like missing my little boys, trying to find my new purpose, and hot flashes. 

Outfit of the Day:  Ann Taylor Cheetah print jacket, Black long sleeve T-shirt, Banana Republic Black/Red Jacquard Camden Fit pants, Bandolino Snake Skin pumps, Emaack Designs Grey Pearl/Pyrite multi-strand necklace.

I met a friend for a birthday lunch today...and then ended up back in workout clothes late this afternoon.  I love getting dressed for the day...it makes me feel so much better.  It's not about parading my fashion or boasting about my overstocked closet...it's about being dressed and ready for the day...no matter what is on the agenda.

I was listening to Shepherd Smith, a Fox News anchor this morning on the Imus show.  He just turned 50.  Said he couldn't see the paper the day before he turned 50, and still couldn't see the day after he turned 50.  It's just a number...we all make way too much over it, including me I guess.  SFB's will be there before and after, and that's what I'm going to focus on...

Nanette