Happiness is a warm puppy...

Ok, so the title of this post is a blatant thievery from a Peanuts cartoon. So what? It sums up my evening perfectly. Now I realize that my puppy, Miss Macy Moo is HARDLY a puppy. She is an 88 pound 9 year old Greater Swiss Mountain/Rott mix. But we have a connection, her and I. We have a routine. We sit home in the evenings, I brew some tea, pop some popcorn and her and I watch some A&E or Discovery channel. We share the popcorn, she shares my lap and I believe the both of us are about as content as we can be. Happiness really is a warm puppy to share an evening with.

Unhappy

It is a rare thing to find a person who does what they love for a living. Or is it? How many people do you know who can honestly say that they love going to work every day? I happen to know quite a few people who absolutely love what they do. Totally jealous, by the way.

Then there are those like me who love getting paid, but loathe their job. I suppose I have no one to blame but myself. You can't do a job you didn't apply for, right? Now I know the economy is in the dirt, blah blah blah. This is not about the economy (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, people.) This is about the feeling of dread that comes each Sunday. That feeling that if work was supposed to be enjoyable, they would call it a hobby and charge you to do it. That feeling that you try day after day to fight through to find the positive: "I work with great people". "The money more than pays the bills". "I am grateful to have a job at all". All of which apply to me. And none of which make the WORK any better. This hasn't always been the case during my years in the military. Just this particular job.

Perhaps someday there will be a job out there for a sushi taster or a chocolate eater or a racquetball learner that I could apply for. But until that time, I suppose I will just have to keep going and do the best job I know how while fighting the unhappy Sundays that always seem to keep coming.

At least there is happiness in knowing that when I retire from the military in 9 years, 10 months and 8 days from now, Eric and I will buy our own franchise and we will never have to work FOR anyone again.

Thoughts from the last decade...

There were many things about this last decade that stick out in our minds. The obvious one being 9/11. While I remember all the same things that the rest of you do, (where I was, what I was doing, etc.), the thought that sticks with me the most with regard to 9/11 is the fact that I am of the age where I do not remember a time when the World Trade Center towers weren't there (I was born in 1971 and the towers were completed in 1972), but the kids born that day and after will never know a time when the towers WERE there. The top of tower 2 was my favorite place on the planet and will not likely be replaced any time soon.

On the other side of 9/11 though was a momentous occasion, and that was the turn of the old century into the new. Not too many people get to experience a turn of centuries. I spent my New Year's Eve, 1999, at a garden party at the house of a friend of a friend who's name I can't even remember, on the intercoastal of Miami complete with ice sculptures, sushi boats and Saigon Kick (had a hit song or two in the 80's to include the rock ballad "Love Is On The Way"). I shared the stage with them for a song. One of life's cooler moments to be sure. It was also the decade when I bought my first house (4 more would follow), graduated from college (which I never thought I would ever do in a million years), got to wear the title of Assistant Vice President while at Bank Of America, started and dropped out of Law School, came back into the military, and adopted my first dog who, to this day, brings a joy into my life I never imagined possible.

It was also the decade I turned 30, which I thought was the coolest age ever. On the down side, it is the decade when I became obsessed with my weight, which is a side of me that I loathe. It is also the decade when I lost my uncle, who I loved dearly, and my father who meant more to me than just about anyone on the planet. Back to the upside, it was a decade where I became even more self-aware than I was before and truly became comfortable with who I was as a person. I am proud as hell of who I have become and the life that I have created for myself. While I am fairly good at being reflective, I am still guilty of that-which-is-forefront-in-my-life-takes-the-spotlight, so with that in mind, the greatest occurrence of the past decade didn't take place until it was almost over. I fell in love. Eric, this next decade is for you...