The Waiting Game

I hate to wait!

I am usually not in a big hurry in life, but enjoy moving at light speed. Now every time I have to go to the doctor, which is as rare as I can make it, he makes me wait. Luckily, I do not have high blood pressure, because as I stew in the waiting room, I can literally feel my blood heating up, getting ready to melt my veins and burn through my flesh. Obviously, I am so conceited that I feel my time is worth so much more than everyone else's. Actually, that is true.

Anyway this morning, of course, was no different. Unfortunately today, I cannot blame the doctor. It was the lab tech and an extremely opinionated old couple. All I needed was a little blood taken so that they can tell me that my cholesterol is good, my triglycerides are low, blah blah blah more medical jargon. But no, I was there for 45 minutes waiting for a 5 minute hemoglobular extraction.

Because I know that all of you reading this are sympathetic to my situation, please take note -- my boss does not care if I am late, I had no pressing work this morning, the doctor is literally blocks away and my boss does not care if I am late. Nonetheless, I arrived at work around 10 'til nine. 50 minutes late! Can you believe it! I wasted almost an hour of my day sitting, doing nothing.

Fortunately, the wait is over, and I am about my daily, productive business of slacking and ridiculing my co-workers behind their backs. And to imagine, I had to wait an hour to do that!

Oh Baby!

I knew that when I got married, people (or rather every relative my husband and I have) would continually bring up the "When you having a baby?" question. I know it is a given because the next course in life after marriage is child rearing. And, I guess I did make a commitment when I recited my vows that I would go forth and procreate. But I thought it could be at my leisure; however, I must be wrong and we are apparently losing some kind of race.

Within the past few weeks, we have found out that four of my husband's five college roommates are expecting. To top it off a co-worker and friend of my husband announced that his famous son is also having a baby. At a wedding this past weekend, we met the newest addition to another friend's family, as well as heard about this little one's new baby cousin.

I feel there must be some kind of conspiracy here. My guess is that there is something in the water. Toys R Us, Fisher Price and Huggies have teamed up to create their own Weapon of Mass Destruction (destruction of a woman's uterus that is) -- instant fertility. It makes women ready, both mentally and physically, for conception. Apparently, it is being tested with great success in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I am assuming infant and toddler sales are declining and that they wanted to drive the market up by producing clientele.

Or maybe, it is the next big reality show to hit the air waves. Whoever pops out a child first wins $10,000, a new minivan and their 15 minutes of fame. I must have missed that message from Mark Burnett.

Believe me, I am not opposed to having children. I was just hoping that I could do it when it was best for me and not because there is a game show host about to start a countdown clock.

Mi chiamo...

Buon giorno! Well that is if you are reading this before 4 p.m., if after then, Bueno Sera! Last night was my first lesson in Italian. And as you can already tell, I am picking it up quite nicely - at least the simple stuff anyway.

Along with my husband and friend, I am taking beginning Italian on Thursday nights. What initially started as a way to invigorate my life is quickly becoming the cure all I think I needed. My advisor in college once told us that everyone goes through a "mid-life crisis" every so many years because we need to continually learn and grow. What she meant is that we all need to broaden who we are, which for most means reinventing oneself. However, this wise woman explained to us that it is not in reinventing, but in expanding who we are that fills the void that brings on this "crisis".

For the past several months, I have been having a mid-life crisis of sorts. I hate to refer to it as depression, though that is probably what it is, because I knew that a change needed to be made and that I inevitably controlled what was keeping me out of sorts. Rather than use the blog as my own therapist couch, let's just say that boredom was overtaking my life from my job to my house, even down to mi amore, my husband.

When I read about beginning Italian classes, it hit me like a cartoon light bulb blinking above my head - this is what I needed. I had planned on taking a fitness class, but when looking through the course catalogue of our local arts organization, I knew that I needed not only to rejuvenate my body but my mind, too. Because my husband has an Italian background, I suggested we both take the class. I tried getting him into the Pilates I was also taking, but he wouldn't do that and I actually needed the alone time.

You may think it is too premature for me to think this is the cure all I needed, but the way I feel lets me know that everything is OK for now. I have a hyper personality so it is just a matter of time before I hit that next mid-life crisis. The key is remembering to just open my mind to something new and know that it is up to me to make things better.

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

-- Shakespeare

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

-- William Jennings Bryan

To Blog or Not To Blog
I am not one for blogging, but after being inspired by a co-worker decided that sharing my voice with the online world was probably for me. I figured that those around me were tired of listening to me ramble about whatever random thought entered my head. So why not force these "insights" onto anyone lucky enough to wander into this blog.

As my profile indicates I am a journalist at heart. That was even my profession once upon a time. Well, before I realized that I needed an actual paycheck and not the spare change my publisher tried to pass off as money. I remember thinking in college that I wanted to write stuff that would make a difference and help people. It turns out that working for a newspaper doesn't mean fleshing out the unjust but rather making sure you write a "nice story" about that carpet business so that they buy the big ad in Sunday's paper.

If you are still reading along, please do not think that I will break into some wonderful verse about how I use my talents for good and not evil. Some days, I don't know which side of that aforementioned dilemma I pledge allegiance. Hence why I decided to write this blog. Writing has always been my passion. Though I have been away from it for a few years (and by away from it, I mean creative, thoughtful writing - not the "marketing speak" that awards me a real paycheck), I am a long way from the wirebound note books and crumpled-up loose leaf I used as a kid. And check out my friend's blog http://lifetimeofadventures.blogspot.com/. With out her inspirataion, I wouldn't be blogging here or anywhere.