the eve of my 38th

First things first...

Charlie's Aunt Nancy turns 71 on 4/19. I turn 38 on 4/20. I think that it's interesting since Nancy was born in 1938 and I was born in 1971.

Happy Birthday Aunt Nancy!

(It took us two days to decipher that the inscription inside your Christmas card read that you enjoy reading my blog. It was either that or, you enjoy smoked frog?)

The winner of the PBK table and chair set as determined by the awesomeness that is Random Generator is Jill Jones!

Jill, please drop me an e-mail as soon as possible to TheAmazingTrips@gmail.com with the address you would like your new table and chairs shipped to, along with the color selection you would like. Espresso or white and green?

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated in this contest. I am so appreciative of your contributions to this cause.

A very special thanks is reserved for Stephanie in North Dakota who has donated at least $500.00 across the three of us since the inception of these contests. And thus far, all Stephanie has to show for her overwhelming generosity is one of my hand knit scarves. But rest assured, I have a special prize I'll be mailing to Stephanie, soon. And no, it's not a four-year-old that likes to poop on the patio.

(Although I do have more than one.)

In other news...

Tomorrow, I turn 38-years old.

(Actually, it's now today. How is it so late already?!)

I've written before how in my 10th grade year of high school, a guy that was in my geometry class turned around and out of the blue said, "I just had a premonition that you are going to die in a plane crash when you are 38."

HOLY CRAP. How do you respond to something like that?

"Huh. Really? So, how about those isosceles triangles? Are they crazy or WHAT?"

I was only 16-years old at the time and thirty eight seemed like a long way away. But man, it sure got here fast. Oddly enough, although I've forgotten most of what happened in highschool, I've never forgotten the words that a shaggy haired, REM-Beatles-Violent Femmes loving, Will Brown told me.

I think about it every time I book a flight. I think about it every time I get on a plane and wonder what it would feel like to fall from the sky. I think about it every time I look up in to the clouds and watch aircraft overhead. I think about it whenever I hear stories of a plane that crashed.

Whenever I see the news clips of the crash and victims, in my mind's eye, I can see them flashing up a picture of me and the family that I've hopefully, left behind. Hopefully, because it's too painful to even imagine that my family was on the doomed plane with me.

For a girl that use to fly all the time and had once dreamed of learning to fly one day herself, suddenly the thought of being in, on, or around a plane made me nauseous.

Maybe Will Brown really did have a vision that something bad was going to happen to me 22 years down the road. Or maybe Will Brown was just pulling a teenage prank. Regardless of the case - I don't hold any ill feelings against him.

Because this much is true.

Every year that passes, regardless of whether or not I perish in a plane, I genuinely think - how much time do I really have left?

Having this little reminder in my mind that one day I will die - and it might actually happen sooner than I'd expect and/or prefer - has been an interesting stimulus.

It has made me embrace my spirituality and ponder some very deep questions about God and my purpose for being here. It has made me think a lot about how I live my life and what kind of example I am setting for my children.




It has made me very thankful that I've taken the time to keep up a blog, so that when I do bite it, my children will always have a portion of their lives recorded and will hopefully, know a little of who I was, through my writing. It has made me finalize my Will. It has made me take a lot of pictures and is the catalyst for a 6,000-mile cross-country adventure we are planning to take, this summer.

It has made me mindful of living simply and intentionally.

(Or at least, trying my best.)

I hug my children often and I consciously savor the moment, by burning it in to my memory and heart. I tell my husband that I love him dearly and that he is one of the best things to have ever happened to me.

I try to live within my means, but donate to charity in an effort to remain mindful of the world around me. Another pair of shoes for me, isn't nearly as important as a pair of shoes for someone who doesn't have any at all. Overall, I try to live my life such that my overall existence is more positive than not.

This very well could be my last year. I truly hope not.

But either way, let's eat cake!!

**********

Now please, riddle me this.

How would you live your life if you knew that this year was your last?

Would you do anything differently? Would you do anything that you've been putting off?