Birthday Girl

Today is Jennifer's birthday. She doesn't look a day over 25, although she disagrees. The last year has not been a great one, with my new job, the move, buying a house with issues and the fact that she loves to do water aerobics, and the only available program in Mansfield at this time is for senior citizens at the YMCA.

We both agree this coming year will be better. The new Lifetime Fitness opens later this year, and we will be able to exercise and improve our health. The house is coming along and major repair items should be completed.

I am taking Jennifer to the Kimball Art Museum to see the impressionist exhibit, then out to dinner. The kids are spending the night with their Poppy. We may pick them up tomorrow, or we may not. Regardless, we are celebrating tonight, the successful passing of another year and the hopes and dreams for the coming one.

Happy Birthday Honey.

Back to the Grindstone

I've been on vacation this past week. I made the mistake of taking 5 days off, starting last Friday. This means I have to go back to work on a Friday. Because of my job, I feel I need to be in the office during month-end close of the financial books. That starts tomorrow, so I am headed back.

I didn't do a whole lot on vacation. We stayed at home, and just kicked around the house mostly. We did some shopping, went to visit Austin, did some more shopping, read a book, joined the local library and generally relaxed.

It may sound boring, but this is the first week long vacation I have taken in 3 years. I was excited to do nothing, and find that to be a reasonable payoff for the hours and stress of my job during the other 51 weeks of the year.

Now, I just need to figure out how to make doing nothing a paying job, so I can feel good about accomplishing something when I take a vacation.

Home at the Ranch

In an effort to increase our pretentiousness, Jennifer and I have decided to name our house and land.

Henceforth, the Peterson's live at the Rockin' P Ranch. Keep in mind we have a 2,500 square foot house on less than 1/3 of an acre. But, we have decided it is our ranch.

We're thinking about having the local blacksmith create our brand on a sign for the electric gate. The neighbors will be so envious.

They may own larger homes than us, but we have a ranch.

You Can't Go Home Again

We drove to Austin on Saturday, to visit both my dad's grave and our old house. The cemetery in Bartlett looked good, and our flowers were still at my dad's headstone. I don't think anyone but me and Jennifer ever go out to visit. I don't understand why no one else makes the trip. I always find it cathartic.

We made the further drive to our old neighborhood in Leander. Our old house looks really good. The young couple we sold it to has taken good care of it. Our flowers and shrubs are still alive, and the flagpole is being used.

The neighborhood on the other hand was a disaster. I'm not sure if it was this bad when we lived there, and we were just used to it, or if it has gotten worse. The yards were in a bad way, cars all over the streets, it just looked like a rundown area.

On arriving back in Mansfield, we drove into our new neighborhood. We immediately felt a sense of belonging. The yards are all clean and freshly mowed, flowers blooming and the houses taken care of.

I realized you can't go home again, but that is really okay. You should always strive to move forward, and sometimes home is actually ahead of you.