Chapter 31

On January 22nd, I began Chapter 31 of my life. It's funny because Chapter 30 went by so fast! It started out with a birthday party in California after a beautiful wedding of my friends. I was surrounded by lots of people I love. Keith closed the lawn mower shop in April, which was a little sad, but the best thing to do. We had a blast all summer at Sesame Place, splashing and playing in the sun, no runaway Samantha's this time either! In August I made a major career decision to work full time, which created a lot of chaos. In November we celebrated David's 5th birthday in California, surrounded by those same wonderful people, and I even got reunited with four wonderful people that I haven't seen since high school and have missed so much! In December and the beginning of January, I thought I might have a bad heart, and endured some painful tests, but all is clear and I'm quite healthy. (All that worrying I did for nothing!) The day before my birthday, I spent it with Ann and Kathy attending a bead meeting in Virginia and goofing around at a mall, making fun of expensive gadgets and thousand-dollar clothing that looked like something you could get at Wal-Mart. That was hilarious! On my birthday, I had a great day alone with Keith at the Rain Forest Cafe, ending with birthday cake at my in-laws' place with the kids.

And now here we are! A whole year of my life just sped right by me! Not that I didn't enjoy it, but I just can't believe it was so quick. Now this, a new year as a 31-year old... is starting to go by very quickly too! I am afraid to blink.

It's starting off with Keith not working right now. His back hurts him so bad. He is at physical therapy now, and I hope he gets relief soon. He has a lower thoracic intraspinous ligament strain, and the anti-inflammatories he has tried so far are not doing a thing for him. His chemistry is such that he doesn't always respond to medications. So they are trying to find just the right thing to do the trick. In the meantime, he's learning what it means to be a stay-at-home dad.

I'm looking forward to this new chapter. A rough start will hopefully turn out great in the end. There are many things to do, and a big milestone ahead... David will go to kindergarten in September! I have to remind myself to enjoy things more and stress out less. I want to spend more time with my friends too...both good old friends and brand new ones that I just discovered, even good old ones that I just discovered again!

Thanks for being a part of Chapter 31! Don't be a stranger! (That means you!) I promise to be less of a stranger too! Sorry!