another year come and gone
In anticipation of my birthday next Tuesday (and the lack of time I will probably have between now and then), I wanted to just write down a few thoughts before the dawning of year 33 in Nellymom world.
Following on the heels of my church rant, it occurred to me that Jesus Christ lived 33 years. He packed a whole lot into what sometimes feels like a short time (the last three years of his life, if what the Bible says is 100% accurate - maybe not). So how has my life stacked up? I won't even begin to compare it to his, for obvious reasons, but I guess this is my life in a nutshell so far:
I was born in Massachusetts on January 24, 1973, to my parents. I lived with them and later my brother in various cities around the state until I went away to college at the age of 18. During my formative years, I was very shy; I dated very little, only had one serious boyfriend (who turned out to be a very unhappy person, but that's a story for another time), and studied a lot until I managed to graduate with high honors, number 4 out of 125 in my high school class. Then I toddled off to the great green north for 4 years of college, where I studied some more, dated a little more (after coming to my senses about the old high school boyfriend), drank quite a bit, made lots of new friends, met my future husband, and had a great major that I was good at until I screwed that part up by switching from print journalism to broadcasting. Oops. Once I graduated (with honors, natch), I couldn't get a broadcasting job to save my life.
I moved in with my future husband and we went back home (for me) to Massachusetts, where we both finally got real jobs in the real world. We lived together for almost two years before we got married on May 24, 1997. My jobs varied, but they were mostly customer service, which really sucked. I never once regretted leaving any of them, for any reason. We bought our condo we now live in on October 1, 1999. I had my first baby on May 10, 2001, and my second on November 6, 2003. We are now finally getting ready to sell the condo (just bought a new stove, and we're putting in new flooring next week, some guy is hopefully coming soon to give us an estimate on painting) and try to find a slightly bigger home.
Along the way, there have been lots of ups and downs, mostly from my moods and how I seem to react to different situations. There have been 3 therapists. The first two didn't really help, but the last one was great. There has been one medicinal intervention, and I cannot say enough about the drug that helped get me out of my depression, Effexor. My weight has gone up and down with my moods, unfortunately. I am trying to get a handle on it once again as I write this. I don't do drugs, or smoke, or even drink alcohol all that much, so food has been my drug of choice. It's not like I can stop eating, so I just have to learn not to overeat, and remind myself of that, constantly.
As I struggle along with my moods, and my various physical ailments, I try to remember every day that I am lucky. I grew up in a country that doesn't hide me under a veil or mounds of robes, allows me to vote, to run around by myself without being stopped by the police, and no one arranged my marriage. I was able to go to college and make my own way in the professional world. Even though I hated most of my jobs after a while, I was good at all of them and got raises and was offered promotions that I turned down. I was fortunate enough to meet a very good and kind man at the age of 19 and we've been together even since. We have two beautiful, and for the most part, healthy children. Hopefully we'll have a new house soon, preferably not a money pit.
I wanted to get this all down to remind myself that it hasn't been a bad life so far. In fact, it's been mostly good. So, I hope, to be continued...
Following on the heels of my church rant, it occurred to me that Jesus Christ lived 33 years. He packed a whole lot into what sometimes feels like a short time (the last three years of his life, if what the Bible says is 100% accurate - maybe not). So how has my life stacked up? I won't even begin to compare it to his, for obvious reasons, but I guess this is my life in a nutshell so far:
I was born in Massachusetts on January 24, 1973, to my parents. I lived with them and later my brother in various cities around the state until I went away to college at the age of 18. During my formative years, I was very shy; I dated very little, only had one serious boyfriend (who turned out to be a very unhappy person, but that's a story for another time), and studied a lot until I managed to graduate with high honors, number 4 out of 125 in my high school class. Then I toddled off to the great green north for 4 years of college, where I studied some more, dated a little more (after coming to my senses about the old high school boyfriend), drank quite a bit, made lots of new friends, met my future husband, and had a great major that I was good at until I screwed that part up by switching from print journalism to broadcasting. Oops. Once I graduated (with honors, natch), I couldn't get a broadcasting job to save my life.
I moved in with my future husband and we went back home (for me) to Massachusetts, where we both finally got real jobs in the real world. We lived together for almost two years before we got married on May 24, 1997. My jobs varied, but they were mostly customer service, which really sucked. I never once regretted leaving any of them, for any reason. We bought our condo we now live in on October 1, 1999. I had my first baby on May 10, 2001, and my second on November 6, 2003. We are now finally getting ready to sell the condo (just bought a new stove, and we're putting in new flooring next week, some guy is hopefully coming soon to give us an estimate on painting) and try to find a slightly bigger home.
Along the way, there have been lots of ups and downs, mostly from my moods and how I seem to react to different situations. There have been 3 therapists. The first two didn't really help, but the last one was great. There has been one medicinal intervention, and I cannot say enough about the drug that helped get me out of my depression, Effexor. My weight has gone up and down with my moods, unfortunately. I am trying to get a handle on it once again as I write this. I don't do drugs, or smoke, or even drink alcohol all that much, so food has been my drug of choice. It's not like I can stop eating, so I just have to learn not to overeat, and remind myself of that, constantly.
As I struggle along with my moods, and my various physical ailments, I try to remember every day that I am lucky. I grew up in a country that doesn't hide me under a veil or mounds of robes, allows me to vote, to run around by myself without being stopped by the police, and no one arranged my marriage. I was able to go to college and make my own way in the professional world. Even though I hated most of my jobs after a while, I was good at all of them and got raises and was offered promotions that I turned down. I was fortunate enough to meet a very good and kind man at the age of 19 and we've been together even since. We have two beautiful, and for the most part, healthy children. Hopefully we'll have a new house soon, preferably not a money pit.
I wanted to get this all down to remind myself that it hasn't been a bad life so far. In fact, it's been mostly good. So, I hope, to be continued...