Time

I looked at the calendar this morning and had two thoughts.

1) Where the heck did the first two months of the year go?

and

2) Spring break in two weeks.  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But the passing of time has actually been on my mind a lot lately.  I'll be 40 in 36 days.  Wow.  Just...wow.  4 decades.  I was born during the Vietnam War.  I was a child during the bell bottom era.  (I had a pink pantsuit that I loved because it was just like Marie Osmond.  I know, right?)  I was a teenager in the 80's.  I seriously wanted Cyndi Lauper's hair.  Sorry Dad.  I was a young adult during the 90's.  Bill Clinton taught us how to use semantics in sticky situations.  Then in my 30's we got Bin Laden, 9/11 and Iraq and Afghanistan.  It'll be interesting to see what my 40's and the Teens will bring. 

Then I look at my own personal numbers.  20 years since my last open-heart surgery.  22 years since my first Al-Anon meeting.  15 1/2 years sober.  My oldest nephew is 17.  My oldest niece will be 17 on Monday.  My husband and I have been together for 10 years this coming May.  Married for 6 years this coming June.  Mom has been gone for 8 years this coming April.  My oldest granddaughter will be 6 in July. 

So what's the story with all this?  I have had the greatest joys and the deepest of sorrows. I've climbed mountains and I've dug myself out of valleys.  I've had times of comforting faith and other times of serious doubts. 

And the rest of the story is...I will have more greatest joys and deepest sorrows.  I'll climb more mountains and there will be more valleys.  I will have more times of comforting faith and more times of serious doubts.  And it will all be okay.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - There is an appointed time for everything .  And there is a time for every event under heaven--

Crickets

That's what I'm hearing in my brain.  Crickets chirping. 

No, not really.  Actually I think there's soooo much going through my teeny tiny brain that I've been having a hard time focusing on one thing to blog on. 

Here's the highlights:

Expectations are premeditated resentments and Valentine's Day is one big resentment plot for me.  I've been with my husband for almost 10 years now.  I know the man pretty darn well and one fact about the love of my life is that you could fit his romantic side in a teaspoon.  Except every once in awhile he pulls something out of the hat that is so from so far out in left field he is automatically forgiven for every missed birthday/anniversary/Valentine's day.  This was one of those years.  I got a computer generated card.  In and of itself not that exciting.  Except for the words.  A lot of the time my husband is full of the blarney.  For example...his most recent wheelchair.  He told me in all seriousness that he had ordered a canary yellow pearl wheelchair.  I was horrified.  I mean, yeah, dude's gotta ride around in it, but I have to look at it and I was more than a little nervous at the idea of having to look at a canary yellow pearl wheelchair for the next three years because OBVIOUSLY!!  But when we go to pick it up....it's like a midnight blue pearl.  It's actually very cool looking.  It's manly but with sparkles.  Win/win.  But when it comes to matters of the heart, if he doesn't mean it, he doesn't say it.  So when I read his computer generated card...I cried. 

Spring has sprung.  West Texas does two weeks of winter a year and two weeks ago we had it.  Sub freezing temps for two weeks straight almost.  Frozen pipes, burst pipes, couldn't get warm, winter.  It's over.  It's been in the 60's, 70's and 80's for the last two weeks and it's predicted 70's for the next week.  I...love...it.  I've already started watching the mesquites for signs of them putting out leaves.  It's probably too early. We probably have one more freeze left.  But mesquites...I'm watching you.

If you haven't heard this yet...my 40th birthday is in April.  Read that part about expectations and resentments again. Guess where my brain is headed for my 40th birthday.  Some kind of big deal had better be made somewhere you know what I'm saying???  And I've been trying to get ready for this 5K and all that.  Well, guess what.  The baby shower for my last nephew ever (maybe) is the Sunday after my birthday.  My cousin who I haven't seen in 10-12 years and who also has the same birthday as me (day not year she's way far away from 40) is coming to the shower.  So I get to spend my 40th birthday with my "twin" cousin and her family, possibly her parents, possibly my parents, my brother and his family and if the husband isn't being too much of a pain...my hubby.  I don't know about anybody else, but I'm making a HUGE deal out of this. 

I finally have my spare bedroom rearranged to suit me.  That is all.

The Daytona 500 was yesterday.  I watched most of the truck race, most of the Nationwide race and all of the Daytona 500 and all I've gotta say is Trevor Bayne is too cute and very deserving, Tony Stewart made it to Victory Lane which always makes me happy, and Michael Waltrip made me cry on Friday.  Dale Earnhardt is still missed, but he's the reason why my favorite drivers can drive the way they do and wreck the way they do and walk away.  Bring on the 2011 season!!!


And, last but not least, my newest sister-in-law is now on Facebook.  I'm so excited. 

So there's a lot going on in there, but it's all good.