The first official practice of pre-season baseball was today. The fields were a bit wet, and only about six kids were there, but it was a good practice. I could see the improvement in my son's throwing and catching over the past week. It was also nice to let someone else be in charge - I am one of the "assistant" coaches, not the "head" coach. As most parents have realized, their kids are often more responsive to suggestions and tips when they are coming from a teacher or coach rather than the parent.
On the way home, he was chatting about my upcoming birthday and asked me if I have any "revolutions" for my birthday. After figuring out that he meant "resolutions", here are some we came up with as my calendar turns over. Here they are:
1. Find a new favorite football team. I've been a fan of Green Bay since the Bart Starr days and really enjoyed this past year with Bret Favre at the top of his game. I am glad that he went out on top, with the best of memories. But my son and I decided that I should find a new team for the 2008 season. Will likely settle on the Colts, as they are one of his favorite teams and Peyton Manning is an admirable role model.
2. Find a new job. I have been increasingly dissatisfied with the university I am currently at. My wife has never liked it and has been pushing me to move ever since we came here (many moons ago). So, maybe this year is the year to put out a flurry of applications and see what happens. Doing so will likely require that I move up to the next level of the academic ladder. A challenging proposition. As 2am knows, job hunting is not a stress-free endeavor.
3. Save more money. Related to #2. But also with an eye to the future and the possibility of living on my own.
4. Clean out the garage. Since we remodeled part of our house 9 years ago, the garage has accumulated a vast amount of excess stuff that we no longer use or need. Time to clean out the clutter. Who knows - once clean, it just might turn into my mokki!
5. Spend more time having fun with him. 'Nuff said.
And I'll add a few of my own:
6. Find a new therapist. It has been more than a year since I have talked to a therapist. The last one that I saw was ok, but I never felt like I was making substantive changes in my life. We would spend an hour talking once a week or once every other week, but after more than a year, when I looked back at my journal, I realized that I was still struggling with the same issues.
7. Have (more) sex. Self-explanatory.
10 comments:
I say don't make resolutions on your birthday. Just have some good times. Eat cake. That kind of shit.
Happy birthday! I like 5 and 7 best.
I think many people struggle with the same issues their entire lives. The exact circumstances may change, but our faults and flaws are our faults and flaws no matter what we do.
Think progress, not perfection, as someone near and dear to me is fond ot saying.
That anonymous comment was me. This open ID is not working particularly well for me.
Anais
A happy birthday to you!
You wrote this in a comment to a post on my blog from January 17, 2007:
And I think a midlife crisis is a cause for celebration - rather than plodding along the same path, a midlife crisis gives us the opportunity to redefine ourselves. Personally, I intend to have a midlife crisis every five years or so.
Perhaps the converse is true, a celebration (e.g. birthday) is a cause for a midlife crisis. ;-)
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2amsomewhere
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thank you all - today is the day...
2am - yes, I am trying to redefine myself again - both in terms of the scientific projects I am working and in terms of my personal life. Looking back, the last time that I really re-defined these aspects of my life was about 7 years ago. I'm overdue!
anais - progress, not perfection - appropriate for all ages. I see amazing progress in my son. My own progress is harder to acknowledge.
maria - there will be cake! Your comment made me aware that this post came off sounding a bit too introspective. The conversation I had with my son, though, was quite light and playful, and mostly about the Green Bay Packers.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY also!!!
And **heavy sigh**, I know I need to shop for a new therapist too (even though I had a most effective form of therapy yesterday: a promising ride on my colt! I started to type "new" but he's only "new" to endurance riding; I've owned him since he was a 2-yr old...)
I have only made one resolution for a birthday, it took me 9 years but I finally accomplished it.
I was very lucky in my first therapist, she was perfect for me, too good, when I went looking again, I couldn't find anyone who was near her equal. I now have a very good friend who is one...and in a sense we fill the need for each other. Hey at least its free therapy :-)
Bart Starr...the memories you just brought back to me...my second grade crush was a HUGE fan of his!
Happy, Happy Birthday!
I came back to say, in a sense your son's word was the correct one...my resolution...was my revolution...the child has much wisdom.
This brings up the question, Should a therapist talk baseball with patients? I say yes, but not the whole time :)
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