Age

This post would have probably been more appropriate closer to January 1, but since I am still in the same month, I think I can still go ahead and post about it.

Each New Year's eve, as the clock approaches midnight, I feel myself reflecting over the past year - highlights, frustrations, goals achieved, milestones, disappointments - and as those last few seconds tick away, I feel a momentary loss of control, almost a panicked feeling. The current year is slipping away, only to be replaced by a new year full of unknowns. What will 2007 bring? When I am counting down the clock on December 31, 2007, what will I be reflecting on?

This got me thinking about the different years of my life, and then I starting thinking, "If I could pick any age to be, and I had to stay in that year forever, what year would I pick?" First I thought about my childhood. I had (have) wonderful parents who took care of all my needs (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) Maybe life would be the easiest if I just chose 1978, the year I turned 3. My mom stayed home with me full time, I had no responsibilites, and at least in pictures I looked pretty happy.

Or maybe I would choose 4th grade (1984.) I did not want 4th grade to end. We were the oldest in the elementary school, so we ruled the school. I loved my teachers, had my little circle of elementary school friends, was just starting out playing tennis and basketball, school came easy, and in general I enjoyed every aspect of life.

Then there was eighth grade (1988.) Again, we were the oldest in the school, basketball and tennis were really taking off, and though I wasn't the prettiest or most popular in the school, I had my niche and circle of friends. School still came easy and my family was still wonderful.

I seem to not even consider the high school years and first two years of college (1989-1994.) This time period, though full of some great memories and experiences, had too many growing pains to want to suffer through forever. Trying to figure out who I was, dealing with boy relationships, finding my way through spiritual matters - I just wouldn't want to go back.

My junior year of college (1995) started what I would consider "the rest of my life." Jason and I began dating, I was really getting involved in social work, and I was starting to settle down as a person, really figuring out who I was and my convictions. Maybe my junior year would be a good place to stay forever.

Ah, but what about 1997 - the year I graduated, got married, bought my first house, and started my first "real" job. Wouldn't everyone want to stay in the "honeymoon" period forever?

Or there's 1999 - the year Elizabeth was born. Now we were settled in our second home, Jason and I were both doing well in our jobs, and now we had baby to make us a "perfect" family.

2003 would be hard to top, too. Anna was born, giving us two beautiful children. We had moved into the home we live in now, potentially our "last" house, Jason now owned the business and was doing well, and I was still in a job I loved. We were actively involved in a Sunday School class with great friends, and we were really starting to get into camping. Great memories, and a great year.

Or what about 2006, even. Nothing great happened this year, but nothing awful happened, either. We were just living the same comfortable, predictable life - which at this point I think is a good thing. We bought a camper, and that was fun. Maybe living forever in "comfortable" wouldn't be so bad.

I can think of a lot of years I WOULD NOT pick. The high school years come to mind first. Fifth and ninth grades were hard, being the youngest grade in the school and feeling intimidated. 1998 wasn't a lot of fun and is probably the last year I would pick.

I asked Jason what year he would pick, and he said when he is 43. That's the optimist he is - thinking the best is yet to come (I made sure it wasn't because he thought the last 33 years of his life were bad.)

So life rolls on, for the most part out of our control. We make decisions here and there that we think shape our experience, but bottom line is, only one person knows what the future will bring. It's a gamble - will the ensuing year bring more joy and laughter than the past, and is that the most important thing that defines a year, anyway?

Not really sure what my end point is, I guess just that we live each day and year at a time, rejoicing in the joyful times, learning from the mistakes, enduring the disappointments, and growing along the way. My grandpa is 91, and I look at him and think about how he has 91 years of memories to look back on, and from what I have observed from his life, how satisifed he must feel at 91. I feel pretty satisfied at 31. I hope I can say the same at 91, too.

The Bread Machine

A year or so ago, a good family friend gave me this bread machine. It sat in our pantry, taking up space. Then, after eating some tasty bread from my sister-in-law's bread machine, I was inspired to dust off the machine and put it to work...thus beginning the saga of The Bread Machine.

It started innocently enough. The Thursday following my tasty sampling, my brother and I went to Meijer, and I spent around 1/3 of my weekly grocery budget on bread machine ingredients. My first mistake was I didn't look to see how much dry milk was required per loaf. Not knowing that it is only a couple of tablespoons, I bought enough dry milk to feed my family for a year if the cows decide to quit producing. But I figured even if we would have to skimp on groceries for a week, we would at least have tasty bread. That Saturday, Jason headed to the Colts game, and though I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to go cheer on the Colts, at least I would get to make some bread. I excitedly put in all the ingredients, plugged it in, watched it preheat, and then it began the "knead 1" cycle. After about 5 seconds, though I had never operated such a machine, I knew something must be wrong. The machine sounded like an off balance washing machine. So I called my sister-in-law. No, she said, it shouldn't be making that loud of a noise. After about 5 minutes the ingredients should be mixed in a nice ball. 10 minutes passed, I had a headache, and the ingredients didn't look like they had moved. So I called my sister-in-law again. Maybe it is the kneading blade, she said. So I dumped all the ingredients out and examined the kneading blade. It looked just like the diagram in the instruction booklet, so I dumped all the ingredients back in and gave it another 10 minute cycle. Same thing. So again I dumped out all the ingredients. It had to be the kneading blade. My sister-in-law said the kneading blade should come right out, but it wouldn't budge. It must be in backwards. I tried a knife. Then pliers. Then a wrench. Then a shoestring wrapped around and tugged with all my might. It would not budge. So now I had a broken bread machine, a mess of a kitchen, and no bread. I cleaned up my mess, set the bread machine aside, and then remembered that my mom had a bread machine in my childhood. I talked with my mom, and yes, she still had the bread machine, and no she doesn't use it. She let me borrow it the next week.

However, this one did not have a manual. How different can it be, I thought? So I got out all the ingredients, dumped them in, and started the cycle. Five minutes after I started, Jason got out the broken machine. Convinced he could get it to work, he began on his own loaf of bread. Upset that he didn't believe that I knew how to operate a bread machine and knowing the additional mess this would create, I let him know that he was responsible for cleaning up. He dumped the ingredients in, pressed start, and what????? No banging noise. The dough started looking like a ball. I looked in my machine, now running for ten minutes. The dough was looking a little dry. Well, to wrap up this little tale, I will just post for you the end results, and you be the judge of the professional bread machine maker in the house.

Mine is on the left, and his is on the right.

I'm not sure what we all can learn from this tale - Deb can't operate machinery? Jason can fix anything? It's best to have a manual when operating a bread machine? Well, regardless, we now have a working bread machine, and Mom, I will be returning yours shortly. And yes, for all of you infomercial fans out there, that IS a Magic Bullet in the background.

Kelley

I can't comment on your post because it says you have comment moderator on. Just thought I'd let you know.

I'm Just The Vessel

There are people lurking about the blog world who really need to start their own blog. One in particular has given me some good blog material, and since she does not have her own blog, I am going to post her material here. And since I think it is a good topic, I will add to the list.

The original material regarding life's minor annoyances:

getting to bed and realizing you both forgot to turn down the heat, lock the front door, etc.

losing the remote

getting to Aldi without a quarter

expecting to use a gift card in the "self checkout"lane at Wal-mart and then realizing the lane doesn't accept gift cards

while eating dinner your 3 year old asks for the 18hundredth time, "when are we gonna have a snack"

you get into the car after your husband has just taken a quick trip alone somewhere and it's on empty

you go to use your toothbrush and suspect it tastes like some kind of bathroom cleaner- Oh that hasn't happened to you?

someone calls during American Idol

My washing machine is out of balance in the basement

And to add to the list, Deb's own minor annoyances:

going to the bathroom and realizing as you reach for the toilet paper that the roll has two squares left (and there's no kleenex to rescue you. Happened yesterday to me actually.)

stores/restaurants denying your credit card even though you know it's not even close to the limit. - yep that happened to me twice in the last few months. Once a coworker was behind me in Elder Beerman, and the other was in the Wendys drive thru and I had no cash on me.)

trying to post and children needing me in the background (I KNOW you've been in the bathtub for an hour. I just have to proofread and then I can publish.)

Only a millimeter of milk left in the gallon - and the cereal has already been poured in the bowl. Just drink the last drop already and throw the gallon away.

The phone ringing and none of the four cordless phones are on their base so I can answer.

Realizing we are out of dishwasher detergent and there's a dishwasher full of dirty dishes.

Lights on in every room in the house, both t.v.s are on downstairs, and everyone's upstairs on the computers. Now I sound like my parents (don't you know electricity isn't free!)

Having a flush and my poker nemesis having a full house (on the river, no less.)

Ah, but life is good. If this is all I have to get under my skin, I consider myself blessed. And S.W., we will be waiting for your premiere.