Milestones

So, with the holidays coming up my family and I have been going back and forth via emails about birthdays & Christmas. Over the last few years I've been really trying to come to terms with my materialism. I love gadgets, things w/ zippers & pockets &...did I mention gadgets? But I like to think I've tempered this craving with a certain practicality.

Listen and you can hear is my wife rolling on the floor with laughter.

But I digress...

This week, I'll be 35. My mother has told me that 35 is not a milestone. My attitude about birthdays has always been simple: I don't really care about the year, I'm just looking for some new tunes or a gadget. In the online gaming world we call this "Phat loots!" Sure, I welcome any excuse to get free cake and maybe get out of doing dishes, but it's never really been about the need to celebrate. Birthdays are birthdays. But 35?

Part of why I haven't been writing for a few days is because I've been busy trying to ignore the big-picture. At some point along the line, 35 became my personal cut-off for having kids. I stuck with that number both as a point of no return and as a motivator. Until I got sick, I still assumed that Slick and I would beat that deadline. Well news-flash, we aren't going to have a kid before Wednesday.

So, much like the U.S. exit strategy, I'm going to have to avoid time-tables for a while. I'm not ready to give up on the whole kid thing. But the reality of yet another unrealized goal in my life also frustrates me. So yeah, 35 is a milestone for me. And no, I'm not particularly happy about it.

So, there's the other reason for the limited postings last week.

Dear family, if you're reading this: A Wii or a PSP would totally help my emotional state. ;-)