I went out to a birthday dinner party on Friday night for my friend who was turning 40. As it turns out, the entire party was over forty, except for me. In the face of a minor personal crisis, it was nice to know that at least I have seven years to go till I have to contend with that trauma. Only one of the five women at the party was married and a mother. She sort of bummed us out with her talk about how she has no time to be creative, which was a giant buzzkill to any remaining fantasies I might have about the state of Married Motherhood. That and the fact that my belief in romantic love was recently decimated, I'm starting to get really cozy and comfortable in the prospect of living an eternity in the state of single childlessness (sans the cats...cuz that's when it gets depressing). Strangely, it seems like the older I get the less friends I have who mope around about being single and childless. Maybe it's because we all have at least one Stressed Out Married Mother in our lives. They're great for a solid reality check when you start to worry that the hole in your soul could be filled by a baby. No, you still have that hole, it's hearkening is just muffled by the cries of your child...

Just for today, I am content with my single life.