Welcome to my personal and private diary.
Today is my birthday. I’m starting to feel the pressure of 30 creeping up on me. I had many expectations for my 20s- successful career, marriage to another power player in the game of life, 3 kids, a big house, lots of retirement savings, international trips for pleasure, domestic trips for business, a fabulous sports car… Lots and lots of plans.
I married a guy who hadn’t attended college but treated me like a princess. And though he only made minimum wage when I met him, he spent every dime very generously taking me out to dinners and movies and surprising me with sweet and thoughtful gifts. When I was pursuing graduate studies he was sensitive to my crankiness and my need for homemade meals, foot rubs, and extra cuddling. So, clearly, while DH was not the man I “planned” to meet and marry he FAR surpassed many guys who did fit the rigid criteria I’d set long ago.
When we got married we thought we would raise a brood of kids. However, it became evident in this first year that we had other priorities before children at this time- degrees, jobs, retirement savings. We can’t afford children right now. It’s hard to watch so many people have children that they then let taxpayers care for when we made a different choice. It’s also hard to watch our government use my tax dollars to bail out homeowners while we continue to rent because we know we can’t AFFORD to get into the housing market right now despite what the banks are telling us.
I’m happy with the life experiences I have had and many of the choices I made in my 20s. My goals for the next decade are to secure our retirement (we’re maxing out our 403Bs and Roth IRAs the best we can each year) and to develop a strong circle of married friends. It’s been very hard to transition from single to married life socially because of this.
If you’re reading this, welcome to my blog. I hope you’ll come back and keep an eye on things from time to time.
