A New Year, A New Age

I hope I can put a little of myself out for others to read here. I have tried to blog before, but I've been too narrow in my focus, and then find what I really want to say doesn't fit. So here I am! For those who know me, you might skip this post and wait for the next one. For those who think they know me, read on!

I am proud to say I'm 48 years old. When I was a child, I had really bad asthma, and I remember hearing someone tell my mother I might not make it too far past the age of 40. So on my 40th birthday, I began really celebrating. I have tried to do so each year since. I might not trip the light fantastic, or paint the town red, but I stop and thank God for the life I have and ask that he keep me going for the next year. I am truly blessed. I am not always in the best of health, and my weight has gotten away from me, but those are fixable states with a little common sense and some patience.

The one thing I have discovered over the years is that life is full of contradictions - and the sooner we accept those in ourselves and others, the more fun we will have in life. My life is so full of contradictions I can't, and wouldn't name them all. But living those contradictions to their fullest is the key to enjoying that life we have. I am a Christian, who likes action movies and bawdy comedy, the odd dirty joke, rap and Celtic music, quiet restaurants and pubs, cooking with my daughter, knitting, drawing, reading, writing, visiting with friends, eating alone in restaurants, WWII history, and learning about different cultures. I take the odd drink, I love working in the gym with weight machines, and my favorite colors are brown, green, and pink or red and orange together. I make more men friends than women, though I have some wonderful women friends and I'm very blessed to have them in my life!

I am quite lucky to have the life I have, challenges included (work, family, personal, community); so this blog will be a little bit about my life: a little cooking, a little knitting, a little about music - not just the dreaded rap and bagpipes! My hope for this blog is to just sound off about life in general and post a tip or two that might help someone; and maybe someone who wants or needs to know it's ok to be full of contradictions will read and enjoy it.

I will try to blog as much as possible without being annoying. If I don't blog for a while, it will mean I've gotten distracted on Facebook (another of my interests), or something has happened to take me away for a while - hopefully not in one of those white coats with the long arms. Please feel free to comment - haters are loved, but discouraged. Know that all I put down are my own opinions and observations, and those that aren't will be duly credited.