How about a depressing thought to kick-start my birthday?
      If I live to be 70 (by no means guaranteed), I am now more than half-way through my life. I turn 36 today.
      By now, I figured I’d have a couple kids, a husband, a handful of dogs, a cat, a house of our own, and a dozen or so best sellers.
      …I got a husband and a dog.
      …so that’s good.
      I’m not depressed this year, though. I’m looking forward. I’m done measuring up to a fictional Josie ™ who never existed and instead, I’m just working on improving the me that is.
      Admirable, right? Hah. No, it is hard.
      But Mark and I are walking 3-4 days a week (aiming for five, but never quite making it) and last we started adding spurts of jogging into our routine. One way or another, we’re going to get healthy.
      Maybe we’ll never have kids (maybe we’ll adopt). Maybe we’ll not have another dog until Venna dies (ten years at least, God willing!). Maybe no cat, no house, no bestsellers.
      But we’ll have each other. And we’ll have nearly 200,000 words about our gaming characters, and we’ll have gaming, writing, laughing, loving…
      So there are changes in Josie this year, her thirty-sixth. Not the least of which is that I now enjoy eggs over easy (dippy yolks!) and gravy (uhhhhh yeah) – two things I have always hated – as well as spicy stuff. I’m purposefully expanding my palate, my world view, and hopefully, my brain. I’m getting back to language learning this year, getting back to writing original stuff (rather than RP stuff) and just – trying to be a better person.
      Wish me luck.
      Sorry for the short blog – but I’ve got a glaucoma screening shortly, then a nap, and a date at the Food Truck rally this evening. Whee! Starting off 36 right!
      Look forward to a really great entry with some fun news coming soon!

Note: Image is “Let’s Celebrate” from SXC.hu