Michelle Kemper Brownlow: Just a few weeks ago, I turned the dreaded 40! I decided that instead of staying in bed and crying all day, I would make a list of the important things I'd realized:

10) I'd actually woken up; I hadn't died of old age.
9) That morning's sex was still amazing!
8) I looked in the mirror and saw that I hadn't grown horrible wrinkles and hair on my ears.
7) In the shower, I noticed that gravity had not pulled my boobs toward my feet overnight.
6) The numbers "4-0" were not splashed across my forehead, and the strangers at the store had no idea that I'd entered a new set of 10s.
5) I didn't pee myself or fart every time I coughed/sneezed/laughed.
4) When I made the appointment for the "professional sexy photos" I'm having taken for my husband for his 40th, the receptionist didn't laugh ... or offer me the "airbrush package."
3) My kids didn't take it easy on me because of my age; they pushed me to the same limits they had the day before.
2) When asked my age by the lady at the DMV, I proudly stated, "Um, yesterday I was 39."

And finally, the NUMBER ONE important thing I realized:

1) I was still the same person I'd been the day before ... ME!

Ladies, age is a state of mind! If I am still enjoying life, not crippled by aging bones and still having sex like a college student, then who cares what the numbers say? After what I learned on my birthday, I can say those numbers without cringing: "I AM 30-10!"