"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 & gradually approach

  Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 1835-1910, American Humorist/Author  (for a list of better known quotes the man quipped, see Jest for Pun)

It is a tradition, my mother always gives me a calender booklet for Christmas and has since I was 13.  It fits in my purse, pocket, or bookbag.  I've been carrying the current one and several others for past years (not in consecutive order), for over 20 years now.

My favorite is a complimentary one provided by the Belz Factory Outlet World when she was a manager of one the stores there.  It's 2002's edition.  But that doesn't matter.  What I love are the profound, short, witty quotes.  There is one notable for each week.  Mark Twain is credited with the quip above (in the subject line).

As some of you know, I've been doing the pre-mid-life crisis (well, it could be mid-life, but I plan to be around for along time after my late 60s, so it's my pre-mid....think pre-engagement and there is a similar chain of thought, I think).  So, while playing Styx's Classics (omg!  I remember the original cuts being released...), I flashed back to the 8 yr old me belting out Crystal Ball.

It is true, most nothing goes exactly according to long-term plan.  I did not plan to be here a year ago.  A year before that, I would most certainly never have guessed last year would have brought so many surprises.

I never would have thought 10 years ago that within the year I would move to the South and become a transplant (or as the locals like to say, "one of them Damn Yankees...won't go back North").  I did not foresee who I would meet, the encounters I would have, the experiences I survived, or very much of anything.

AND guess what?  That is not a bad thing.  All in all, I have had a good life.  It's all led up to here, now, and made me into who I am.

  Styx's Fooling Yourself (the angry young man)

You see the world thru your cynical eyes
You're a troubled young man I can see
You've got it all in the palm of your hand
But your hand's wet with a sweat
And you head needs a rest

And you're fooling yourself
If you don't believe it
You're kidding yourself
If you don't believe it

Why must you be such an angry young man
When your future looks quite bright to me
And how can there be such a sinister plan
That could hide such a lamb
Such a caring young man

And you're fooling yourself
If you don't believe it
You're killing yourself
If you don't believe it

Get up, get up, get back on your feet
You're the one they can't beat
And you know it
Come on, come on let's see what you've got
Just take your best shot and don't blow it, oh

So, I mean to say, that things haven't been all roses...nor have the thorns been the main focal point of my life either.  And they won't be.  My life from here out will be good, bad, ugly, joyful...tears of happiness and sadness will be shed.  Frustrations may come, and hopefully go.  Life goes on and I plan to go on with it.

I've moved many times, lived in and passed through many places.  One of the most frequently asked questions I am receive is along the lines of how do I find...(where ever I am at that moment)...?  My answer has been basically the same for over 15 years, no matter where or when.

I find that what I get out of the experience depends on what I put in.  So, I don't know all the plans.  I don't know what may or may not happen.  Who I may or may not meet.  What turns my life may take.

But I got my hand on the helm, climb aboard the pea-boat with me and let's embark on the next leg of the journey, shall we?