I Think I’m Still Me But Sometimes I Wonder

If you’ve been following this blog over the years, you know that I am now old as CRAP. I’d say I’m old AF, but since I’m OLD and all, that seems a little vulgar (and let’s be honest, trendy) for me. I mean, to be honest I am still loving my 40s (for those who are counting, I’m 41.) But I’m suuuuper irritated that my young cousin Emily still hasn’t joined me in that decade. HOWEVER, THIS IS THE YEAR THAT HAPPENS and I am preeeety jazzed about it. Jazzed enough to create this, apparently:

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT EMILY, right? Seeeriously let’s get back to the topic at hand. One of my faves, naturally: me. And how much I’ve changed.

For instance, I’ve spent much of my adult life abhorring exercise, and making fun of those who live that #gymlife or must post every.single.workout on social media. WE GET IT, YOU’RE FIT! Congrats #fitmom, I’m truly happy for ya. Jaykay, I’m actually rolling my eyes at you. And STOP it with the before & afters, people! True story, you CAN track your progress by actually looking at your sports bra selfies YOURSELF instead of posting them on the Insta erry-other-day. NO LIE. You should try it!

So, I was perfectly content to keep on not exercising (#nevermissamondayonthecouch) but then…OH CRAP I started struggling with a back injury. Like, struggling hard. FOR MONTHS. (See above paragraph about being old.) So now, I exercise. EVERY DAY. Seven $%#! days a week, against my will! Treadmill AND yoga! Because if I don’t, my back hurts. And it makes my right leg hurt and spasm and it really WRECKS my life.

So I exercise. I #nevermissadaythatendsinY. HOWEVER, I have never one posted on social media about it. So did it REALLY HAPPEN? You’ll just have to believe me. I’m almost ashamed to say it because it’s so not me…but…I exercise DAILY! Whaddyado?

SO, NEXT UP in the big life changes: only working part time. In June I went to part time with ForEveryMom, and in November I lost my gig there permanently, which in all honesty is NOT a bad thing. So, now, I write freelance for a variety of clients and I love it. If you want to check out some of my signature Jenny-type articles, you can find them at Her View From Home. I LOVE writing over there. I also do ghostwriting of newsletters, blogs, and emails for a variety of businesses, including photographers and a marketing agency. (If I can learn about it, I can write it, so if you have need of a ghostwriter, email me at jennyrapson at gmail dot com.) The nice thing about this part-time, freelance life is that it gives me plenty of time to EXERCISE and shower before starting work every day because I’m the BOSS OF ME! Which is great because I am a sloooow exerciser (still a fast writer, though!)

The other big change is that for the past 14 months (which is crazy to me!) I’ve been a market partner with MONAT hair care. That’s right, I am a shampoo slinger. What surprises me the MOST about this is that I freaking LOVE it. It turns out you CAN do direct sales without being creepy, pressuring people, and posting photos of your paychecks. You can do it by sharing the product you love and why it’s helpful! I have loved helping people with their hair problems and making money through that. It’s funny, I would have thought that makeup was my thing, but it turns out I was wrong. It helps that I believe in these products that have transformed my hair. Just check out some of my before and afters!

Anyway, I am not gonna give you a sales pitch, but if you want to know more, email me at jennyapson at gmail dot com. If you want me to send you some freeee samples, take my hair quiz and/or request a sample here: http://bit.ly/fixyourhair. I won’t stalk you – I will just follow up to see how you liked them!

FINALLY, here’s another thing about 40ish me that weirds me the heck out: MY KIDS ARE OLD. I mean, two out of three. Joshua is FIFTEEN you guys. Like, a few months away from a learner’s permit, which makes me sweat and want to barf. And Sophie is 12…all very preteen-y and going through the things that happen at that age that moms don’t blog about because we don’t want to humiliate them. This is all weird territory for me, you guys. I HOPE to have it figured out by the time Jonah (still a blessed eight years old) gets there. And I hope I haven’t scarred the older two in the process.

The long and the short of it is…my life looks soooo different than it did last time I was regularly blogging! So I am really trying to figure out how to do this blog thing again. I want to so badly…my creative juices seriously want to flow, I swear.

I’ve just gotta figure this out…I want to tell STORIES again. It’s my favorite. But I have to figure out how to, again. And what those stories will be. And convince Emily to write one once in awhile!!!! I hope you can bear with me while I do!