I turned 48 today. I'm not depressed about it but I keep having this "Wow, when did that happen?" thing going on in my head! I think we get to this age and reflect on what came before and what we should do in the future. I had this image, back when I was 20 and didn't see myself ever married and doing the domestic Goddess thing, that by the time I got to this age that I would have had a job (that I liked), maybe raised a kid, and maybe, then, be thinking about getting married to someone I could grow old with. Then, somehow before I was out of my 20's, I did get married, had a couple of kids, got a a mortgage, managed a little savings for retirement. When I was 35 I imagined that at this age the kids would be about raised, the house paid off, we would have a little
more savings for retirement. I imagined things would be easier now. I could maybe travel some, enjoy things. And it's not like that at all. Our money situation is bad and getting worse. One kid has student loans up to her ears and is still adding. The other kid is barely out of a holding pattern and I don't know what to do for him. Still making house payments, not much savings anymore. And still, I try to stay positive. If we can hold on for about 4 more years, the house will be paid for. Maybe we can cut our insurance premiums (that's what is eating us alive, afterall). Maybe we will retire in Florida. Maybe the kids will be huge successes in their chosen fields and take me on trips to exciting places and meet exciting people! So much yet to look forward to.
We have had such a mild Winter that some of the Fall friendly plants didn't die. My brussel sprouts are one such specimen. They didn't do anything all Summer long--barely even grew. But I chose the tallest of the plants I had and stacked corn stalks around it. Then covered it during the few cold spells we had.When I checked over the weekend, this is what I saw. Last night, for dinner, I had roasted brussel sprouts. Yum!
I turned 48 today. I'm not depressed about it but I keep having this "Wow, when did that happen?" thing going on in my head! I think we get to this age and reflect on what came before and what we should do in the future. I had this image, back when I was 20 and didn't see myself ever married and doing the domestic Goddess thing, that by the time I got to this age that I would have had a job (that I liked), maybe raised a kid, and maybe, then, be thinking about getting married to someone I could grow old with. Then, somehow before I was out of my 20's, I did get married, had a couple of kids, got a a mortgage, managed a little savings for retirement. When I was 35 I imagined that at this age the kids would be about raised, the house paid off, we would have a little more savings for retirement. I imagined things would be easier now. I could maybe travel some, enjoy things. And it's not like that at all. Our money situation is bad and getting worse. One kid has student loans up to her ears and is still adding. The other kid is barely out of a holding pattern and I don't know what to do for him. Still making house payments, not much savings anymore. And still, I try to stay positive. If we can hold on for about 4 more years, the house will be paid for. Maybe we can cut our insurance premiums (that's what is eating us alive, afterall). Maybe we will retire in Florida. Maybe the kids will be huge successes in their chosen fields and take me on trips to exciting places and meet exciting people! So much yet to look forward to.
February 29 and the crocus are up. This has been the mildest winter I can remember. Lots of precipitation, but in rain form, not snow. Everybody keeps saying "We're going to pay. Some of our biggest storms have been in March!" Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. It's almost like everyone has been holding their breath waiting for that bad winter storm. We've had a little ice, a tad bit of snow, but nothing that has lasted for more than half-way through the day. All I know for sure, the bugs are going to be bad this summer! At least the bats will have plenty to eat!
