...california, here I come!!!!

Yes, I am going to California! In nine days, I'll be on a plane with Mirielle, heading to the Bay Area, to visit Aaron and Riley. We have big plans too, Nappa Valley wineries maybe...or maybe Sonoma. I don't know. We'll only be gone for five days, but sometimes it's nice to have a little get-away.

Call me a brat, but I like having at least three trips lined up at once, ha. Virginia/Delaware this weekend, California next week, then Oregon in December to be there with Kathryn and Darius when they have their first baby. What will be next?

Lydia is here, she spent the night last night. Anne is coming over today, and they are going to be so happy to be together. We plan on a trip to the library.

As I get older, and I realize that in all likelihood, there are way more years behind me than ahead of me, it's plain that all the things I thought I'd do "someday" aren't happening. I don't think I'm going to college, nor starting a business, nor writing a book. It might happen, but time seems all the more precious as it slips away, and spending it wisely, as in taking time with PEOPLE, seems the best way to spend it. And shh, my nightmare: writing a book and having it appear on the shelves of: the dollar store.

It would be nice to earn more money. Isn't that always the thing? We still need some new windows here, and our vans are dying slow expensive deaths, and are terrible in the snow. New flooring, fixing the hot tub...then the sub-list, the little things we don't need but would be nice...(new t.v., a used but functional camper...)

But if we actually got/did all those things, would it just be something else?

Is there always a list of wants/needs?

I know my list is very First World Probs.

We are very blessed. We have food in the cupboards and a nice, big, messy house to keep us almost warm, ha, and not too cool, but dry and safe. We have toys galore, and plenty of clothes.

It's human nature to want MORE. That's not necessarily a bad thing, we aspire to improve our lives, and having goals helps get us what we want. But when does contentment come in? When do we wake up and realize that THIS IS LIFE? It doesn't start when we get all that we think we need, today is our life. Today, when I'm still fat, and I still have the cracked tile floor in the kitchen, and this old furniture and all the storage baskets that I bought to transform the laundry room are still stacked up, wrapped in their brand new plastic. My dogs still don't listen when they notice deer at the apple tree in the across-the-street neighbors' yard, and most of my kids call me by my first name.

It's rainy today, and cooler than yesterday's un-Goshly 88 degrees. It's a perfect day for the library.