Photo by Joey L. / Sentiment from Mentors Channel.

I don’t like feeling old. Growing old? That, I’m okay with. There’s a great meme going around on Facebook about those who have the privilege of growing old. And it is a privilege, one I want to enjoy.

But I don’t want to feel old. I don’t want to feel like I’ve aged past the opportunity for adventure and inspiration and just frivolous fun. I take care of my responsibilities: I’m a good wife and a great mom, I pay my bills, I do my work, I go to bed at a proper time most weeknights, I eat right and exercise. I do all the things I’m supposed to do. So I want to make sure I’m taking the time to do the stuff I want to do.

I fundamentally believe there is value in going out. I always have. When our kids were infants then toddlers, I made a point of getting a babysitter every other Saturday night. I never knew my husband appreciated the effort until our kids were older and a man with toddlers asked him at a dinner party, “So when did you start having fun again?”

I'm actually 39 in this picture. So sue me.

“We've always had fun,” my husband said, as if ‘always having fun’ was the most obvious characteristic of a marriage.

But figuring where and how to have fun as a 40-something? It’s hard. The bar scene with youngsters half your age shouting and drinking and hitting on each other starts looking distasteful. And there’s no greater smack to the ego than being called “ma’am” in a crowded club.

So this blog is about my quest to find places and activities that don’t make me feel old and out of place or -- hell -- even if they do, they’re worth doing. I want going-out experiences that hit some criteria of fun and ease and discovery. That make my friends laugh with the verve we bring out in each other, that make my husband and I appreciate how much we dig each other.

That make me remember that growing old isn’t getting old.