Career Path

My twenty year old self and my 38 year old self were having a conversation today. My twenty year old self was standing there shaking her head like we were pathetic, looking all-knowing and skinny in her size 6 jeans and bad shoes. We spent the day trying to come back from almost a week of my feeling awful and lying on the couch- I was sick and woozy and spent my last five days holding court with a flurry of Kleenex.

Today was all about smells. Getting rid of the sick smells, the trash smells, the dirty smells, the musty odor, the dog smells and the I'm-not-sure-where-that-smell-is-coming-from smells. So I cleaned. I changed beds, I scoured bathrooms, I cleaned out toy boxes, I tossed closets. And I was so joyful to get these things accomplished that my twenty year old self was wondering why we went to college at all.

I think about where my life is going and I know this NOTHING like what I imagined. It's better.

I wanted a job I would love, a job where I was rewarded and compensated accordingly. I wanted to do something meaningful, to travel and the chance for advancement. I wanted to one day retire and live happily ever after.

I got all of that and more. Let's face it- I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. The Financial Counseling is going to be there waiting in the wings and I think it will be a very good fit for me. But for right now, we're thinking about Oman, overseas, the house and a few other things that are going to take us on another path for a few years. I may grouse about the chores and the daily tasks, but I smile over a hundred times a day. Real, genuine, oh-my-goodness-my-heart-is-gushing smiles. I would choose you and your dad again and again.

In the meantime, I've got a few words for the skinny, know it all cow in the jeans. It's just going to take me a few days to get them all together.