Like sands through an hour glass...

The pages on the calendar, they keep on flipping, and just like that, today is my birthday. 

For those of you too curious to resist knowing, I am 37 today, a fact that stuns people who haven't known me long.  The grey in my once red facial hair is misleading.

Birthdays, like New Years, are a time for reflection and evaluation for me:  Are things better/worse than they were a year ago at this time. 

This year, the answer is clearly better.  A year ago, I had been at my new job about 8 months, and on a daily basis, I was fairly certain leaving the Shipyard had been a mistake.  I didn't enjoy my job, didn't have many friends outside of work, and was living in an apartment that we didn't like very much, but it was convenient.  Our house in Belfair was on the market, with no sign of selling.

Now?  Well, after 20 months on the job, my doubts are down to once about every 2 weeks.  I still really don't enjoy the job, but that's more me than the job.  I am increasingly sure that I am not cut out to be a manager type.  This was creeping into my mind even back in the Shipyard...I was getting tired of being responsible for other people.  I miss being the best ME I can be being enough.  In December, one of our planners(procedure writer/engineer lite) is retiring, and I am holding out hope I can slide into his job.  Pay is about equal, but it is a sideways/dead end career path.  It's a staff type position with no direct reporting employees, where I can just work hard, and feel good about myself. 

We are out of the apartment, and in a rental house.  Now that we have been here two months, I have noticed a bunch of little things that make me glad we are renting and not buying, but it is 900% better than the apartment.  We can be satisfied in this house for at least two years.  Our house in Belfair is moving towards it's scheduled closing at the beginning of July...in fact, we got our package of paperwork to fill out from the title company yesterday, so, once that boat anchor is gone...things should be going pretty good.

For my birthday today, I am doing something I never would have gotten to do in the Shipyard, which drives home why my doubts about this job are gradually decreasing: I'm taking not just today off, but also Friday and Monday.  This afternoon, we are loading up the car, and heading to the Republic/Lake Curlew area of Washington(North Central, about 8 miles from the border with Canada).  We are renting a cabin/cottage on the lake up there for three nights.  While there, we will do some fossil hunting, and probably some fishing, and some research. There is a lot of land for sale up there...and when our house does sell, at some point we may decide we are happy enough renting, that instead of buying a new house, we may buy some vacation/retreat type property. 

Either way, it's shaping up to be an outstanding birthday, and weekend.