Sunday, February 28, 2010

My mid-life crisis

In January 2006, my father celebrated his 64th birthday in a hospital bed. Three days later he passed away.

On the 17th I turned 32. I did not welcome this birthday and actually tried to make it pass without notice. Realizing that 32 could very well be mid-life for me (as it was for my Dad), I had a bit of an internal crisis. Health-wise, I take after my father's side of the family. I'm not in good health and it's been an uphill battle for a few years now. Knowing my father's fate, I kept fearing that something bad was going to happen to me this birthday. A car accident, another burst cyst, a heart attack, mugging, etc. I was in a funk.

My birthday came and I intentionally didn't do much. The highlight was going to dinner at the Spotted Dog with Mom, Mary, Greg & Matt. A few days later Matt and I decided that we would finally update the bathroom. We did a great job. Kept the updates under $300 and it only took 3 days to do everything we wanted to do. On the last day, 4 days after my birthday, we were finishing up the bathroom when I began to feel awful. I started throwing up and the pain in my stomach became so excruciating that I couldn't stop moaning or shaking with pain. Matt decided to take me to the emergency room around 9pm (after first locking the keys into the house and breaking into the house). Turns out I needed an emergency appendectomy.


They performed the surgery early Monday morning after being in the emergency room for 8 hours. I came home Monday night and have been laid up and bored out of my mind since. I return to work tomorrow (Monday) but will be working from home for the week. Hopefully I'll be in good enough shape to return to the office next Monday.

All this time stuck in my house has got me thinking about things I'd like to do (and wish I could do at this moment). So I've created a list. Most of these are things I'd like to do this year. Some are things I'd just like to start on. Kind of like my mid-life bucket list.

Get to the gym more
Go for a walk
Write in my blog more
Farmers market
Make more soap
Ride my bike
Finish ninja school
Adapt takeover to musical
Eat more greens
Hang out with friends
Have twins or triplets
Get my degree
Paint all the rooms in the house
Update the kitchen
Lay carpet in computer room
Organize computer room
Plant lots of grass outside
Pressure wash the porch
Make a garden
Grow my own veggies/herbs
Make a compost pile
Tear down the sheds in the back
Organize the main shed
Remodel the master bath
Meditate
Yoga
Road trip
Medieval Times
Clean the car
Mystery dinner theater