Like House, Like Owner...

Have you ever been in someone's house and thought "yeah, this is exactly how I imagined their house to be"? I have. It's interesting that an inanimate object can "fit" a person so well. It almost seems to show the same personality. Yes, I'll admit it's probably because that person has decorated it to make it that way, but it's true, regardless of the reason.

I remember when we were putting our old house up for sale, our realtors did a great job helping us stage it. They had us remove stuff that basically showed our personality, which made it easier for buyers to see it as being potentially theirs. (It totally worked, by the way. We sold our house a lot faster than we were expecting!)

Anyway, I realized today that my house that I've lived in for the last 14 or 15 months is kind of like that with me, at least in one way. Only in my case, I didn't make it that way. It's just that way by itself.

So this house does something that no other house I've lived in before did. It's a small thing, but it's weird. It is not uncommon for me to go to turn a light on or off, and I notice that the switch plate jiggles a little, or if it's dark and I'm feeling for the switch, occasionally I'll bump the screw and notice that it is pretty loose. So I try to tighten them down whenever I notice this. It even sometimes happens with the same switch plates - the ones that I've already tightened down. Weird huh?

Anyway, so back to the original intent of this post, to tell you why I realized that I have at least one thing in common with my house. Yep, you guessed it:

We both occasionally have a screw loose.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

"Sleeping" out

So the kids slept outside on the trampoline last night. Rhoda slept out with them (on an air mattress on the ground). Me? Not so much. I stayed inside because I had to get up early for work the next morning. And I was out late.

Rhoda didn't sleep too well last night. With the kids waking up cold, the neighbors' sprinkler hitting the fence, the wind blowing through the wind chimes, and the sun rising at 6am, it's like the perfect storm for light sleepers having a sleepless night. Oh, and there was this, too:

Usually, when I get home from being out late and Rhoda's already in bed, I go give her a quick kiss and let her know I'm home. She usually wakes up just a little bit, enough to acknowledge that I'm there, and then falls right back to sleep.

So, just doing what I thought was normal, I crept outside (I didn't want to wake up the kids), and quietly knelt down next to her and just like usual, I gave her a quick kiss and told her I was home. What wasn't normal was her reaction. I guess she wasn't expecting me to come outside and do that, so she was startled wide awake in a panic. Needless to say, it took her a while after that to fall asleep (sorry, Rhoda!).

Yeah, I guess I should have seen that coming. Totally didn't. And while I felt bad about that, I have to admit, I thought it was pretty funny. I love you Rhoda!

Make that change...

Haha! That title is a great family inside joke. And this post isn't about THAT.

So I couldn't NOT post some of my thoughts lately. I have had another birthday. I'm not that old and I don't even really feel old. I of course enjoyed all the pampering and love that I got on my birthday. I like birthdays, even at an age where my kids (and wife) ridicule me because of how OLD I am!

Birthdays kinda make you think, though. Sort of like New Year's, you think about things you could change. Birthdays make me think about where I'm at in life and what I'm doing. What kind of person I am, and whether or not that is the kind of person I would like to be.

So inevitably, that leads to some thoughts about making some changes. In many ways, the changes I would like to make involve a re-focus, rather than any new effort on my part. Things that I used to do and don't anymore (or at least not with as much regularity). Things that have always been on my list of self-improvements.

It's funny how habits are really hard to break, unless of course it is a good habit.

I appreciate greatly the blessings and opportunities in my life, and I don't want to take advantage of or misuse any of them, or even lose them, due to my bad actions, or more commonly, my inaction.

I don't mind getting older. What really concerns me as I get older, is this: Am I getting wiser, better, more mature, more capable, etc., etc., etc.?

One change is this blog. I looked at Rhoda's blog, and it said my last post was 'A Month Ago', and that was only there because Rhoda hijacked my blog. I have so many thoughts and feelings, and I love the way they evolve as I write about them.

So what will I change? I have a couple of things on my "top priority" list, and I'm working on those. What about you? Are there changes you can make? Are there things, even small things, that you can do to become more the person you want to be? Give it a shot. Some things are easier than they seem.

P.S. As a side note about my birthday, I'd like to give a shout-out to Rhoda. She got me a great gift. Something that I mentioned in passing probably at least a couple of months ago. Yet she remembered that it was something I wanted. And, to be honest, it'll probably figure in to at least one change I'd like to make. Thanks, Rhoda!