Where Does The Time Go?

Wow! Where does the time go? As I sit here contemplating my 40th birthday, I wonder how I got to this point in my life. What the hell happened? It seems like just yesterday when I was in high school wondering how in the world I was going to survive the break-up with "the love of my life". It's funny. I was listening to some old CDs tonight and a song came on and transported me back to a time 22 years ago. Isn't it weird how a simple song can trigger so much? It puts us right back at that time and we remember everything. But then reality kicks in and we're no longer in high school, our kids are. SCARY! Time certainly does fly. I just wish I had realized that when I was younger.

I guess Marty is planning a birthday party for me next Saturday. I'm really torn about that one. I feel like I'm reaching a milestone in my life, but I wish it would really pass without much fanfare. Last year on my birthday my dad was admitted to the hospital and he died less than 2 weeks later. In August, four months prior to that, he was diagnosed with cancer, and even the best doctors around couldn't figure out where it started or how to cure it or even slow it down. It came as a tremendous shock and I don't think any of us realized how fast the disease would progress. I am so glad that it happened like it did and that he didn't suffer, but so many days I wish he was still here. I miss him so much and I know my kids do too. I'm doing my best to learn from this and so far I've learned that life is short. I'm living each day to the fullest, just like my dad did. You never know what tomorrow holds. Oh yeah, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Wow! What a Weekend!

Wow. Things are moving in high gear around here and I haven't decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I've been complaining about it a lot, but I'd be complaining if it wasn't happening too. It is just such a bad time of year to start a remodeling project, but at least it's getting done. Saturday morning had me cleaning out my "eBay room" with the help of my son and my mom. It's all done. Everything has been relocated, given to the Goodwill, or freecycled. Each and every item that has been stored, dumped, or just tossed in the room is gone and, get this, we have new wall studs up. Who'd 've thunk it? Certainly not me! The bathroom that we have waited 5 or 6 years for is finally coming to fruition. I picked out the cabinets, the toilet, and the bathtub (the shower has been sitting in there all these years). Heck, I even chose the paint color today. Next we'll be removing drywall, getting the plumbing and electric roughed in, and then who knows. We may have a brand new master bath in a few months. With that done, all that's left is to refinish the floors, replace the woodwork, do something with the fireplace surround and we're done. Then it will probably be time to move! Isn't that always the way it works?

Oh well, tomorrow it's back to the old grind. Got lots to do this month, with the company being shut down between Christmas and New Year's, but maybe we'll head south or maybe up east to do some skiing. Who knows?! Only time will tell.

Sell, Sell, Sell

That's the mantra coming from both my mom and my teenage daughter. They have discovered a cruise that sails in February to the Bahamas for four days and features a unique, private concert by Kenny Chesney on a secret island in the Bahamas. The price is not cheap, but they are deteremined that we are going. "Put stuff on eBay." "Start selling!" Geez, we sold almost everything we owned last winter to spend Spring Break in Key West. We are running out of stuff, not to mention, the stuff we have isn't going to bring in that kind of money. How in the world are we going to pull this one off? I have been listing since Thanksgiving, but that was supposed to pay for Christmas so we didn't have to use the "master bathroom money". Lucky for us, we don't need all the money that has been earmarked for the bathroom, so I guess we're starting a "Kenny Chesney Cruise Fund". This should be interesting! I can see us taking trips to Chicago and Columbus to start up my business again so that we can go cruising. Oh boy!