(Not) Much Ado About Nothing...

Meaning that nothing much has gone on lately, and I'm not going to make much ado about it.

Hmmm, let me qualify that statement a little: Not a lot has gone on lately, but I've been working my ass to the bone (is there an assbone?) to try and get through everything I need to. For two days last week, I was put on a survey crew for ten hours a day, and I kind of liked it! I have a "Sun-God" bronze tan (on my forearms, anyway), and some road-grime spots on my clothing that probably won't come out until long after my children have grown and married. The surveyors are a fun lot to hang out with, as they know all of the good spots to pack a picnic lunch and watch lovely girls stroll by.

Moving on... The past half week has included surveying in the blistering heat, yard work in the blistering heat, avoiding going out in the blistering heat, etc. In Utah, we had a state holiday yesterday, which meant that I got to sleep in until 8:00, get up, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, run to the grocery store to buy some breakfast cereal, and get back home before my wife got out of bed. Because, not only was it a holiday, it was also HER holiday...the kind you associate with cake, candles and getting older. She handled the whole thing rather well, I thought.

At the behest of several nagging daughters, I rented Disney's "Ice Princess" on DVD last night. I'm typically not that much into "lower end" Disney films, but this one hit me right at home. It really wasn't because Michelle Trachtenburg is easy on the eyes, but rather the whole "Getting what you really want out of life" theme. It makes one who is NOT getting what he wants out of life (in some regards) start to think. Which can be good. Or bad.

Ummm, can I see what's behind Door #2?

For years I wanted to be an architect (beautiful buildings fascinate me - almost as much as women do), then I wanted to be a cardio-thoracic surgeon (mainly for the money and prestige), then an astronaut, then a Navy pilot (the Top Gun years), and then reality struck, and what I really wanted most was to at least graduate from high school. My grades had suffered immensely during my teenage years, and it was only through a combination of Track and Field, Cross Country Track and Early Morning Choir that I was able to earn enough credits to graduate from school. So, I drifted through the next several years, more or less taking the path of least resistance and becoming things that I was skilled at. Like a CAD designer, or computer technician. But I don't think I've ever had the kind of epiphany that the lovely Michelle T. had in Ice Princess... something that I could be good at AND passionate about. And it bothered me.

Some of you are vaguely aware of a slight aspiration I have to write books. Who knows? Maybe that will be the thing that I enjoy the most... But I actually have to get one published before I could know for sure. The stories are there in my head, it's just getting the time to actually sit down at the keyboard and hash them out. My dad is a published author, and it didn't seem toooooo extremely hard to get his book from computer to bookstore shelf, but we'll see. It seems anymore that EVERYBODY is an author, EVERYBODY is a photographer, EVERYBODY is a recording artist, and to quote Syndrome (from Disney's The Incredibles):

"...And when everyone's super, no one will be."

On the other hand, I am extremely happy with my life as a parent. I have the cutest kids in the entire universe, and there is nothing better than a hug and kiss for Daddy at the end of the day. I'm pretty content with my married life, too. I can't see ever being divorced, because my wife and I are a pretty darn good fit. As much as I may enjoy watching lovely ladies stroll around at lunchtime, there is nary a thought as to ever "touching the merchandise". I couldn't ever do that to my sweetheart.

So is this what life is all about? Am I to be content with the excellent things in my life, such as family and friends, and merely put up with the mediocre things? Or I am supposed to reach for it all, not resting until I have the most deep and abiding satisfaction a person could derive from their day to day living?

At the end of this mindless, introspective rant, I ask: Where do I fit in?"