As an adoptive mom at age 32, I’ve spent the last seven years with young children in the home and while both of my kids slept though the night by 8 weeks (kudos Baby Wise), kids have you up in the night- its just the way it goes.  Now that my son is 4 and my daughter 7, I was looking forward to fewer interrupted nights.  Then 40 hit, and unfortunately, the beginning of menopause – I guess.  Now I can’t sleep due to hormone changes.  Gone are my college days when I could drink cofee and 1 a.m. and go to sleep at 1:30 a.m.  The black under eye circles and ever growing bottles of sleep aids, herbal remedies and nerve tonics in my bathroom closet are a sure testament to that!  I have limited myself to 1 cup of coffee in the morning and absolutely no caffine after that – water is my beverage of choice now days.  I was bemoaning this sad state to my ladies bible study members when one of the elder members asked me a rather surprising question., “Sweetheart,”she said “Are you in your early 40s?”  “Yes,” I responded, wide eyed and wondering what she meant.  Then, in unison, the women around the table began shaking their heads with those sad looks on their faces as if to say – “so glad I am not you.”  Then, to punctuate the moment, the sweet woman who had asked my age just simply added, “get ready.”  GET READY.  The words hung in the air like the smell of stale socks.  In the days following that conversation, I have found myself wondering about all I am supposed to be getting ready for.  Trepidation abounds.