Another day, another year...

(No, you don't get to see my baby baby picture because my scanner is permanently broken...but I do like this picture of me at 2 years old :).)

Sooo…today is my birthday. 27 years ago today at approximately 8:11 a.m. I first breathed the air of this world on my own. Or the stork dropped me off. Or I got picked out of the cabbage patch. Or something. I am an aquarius (both sun/star sign and ascendant...and since your ascendant is supposedly about the face that you present to others, I guess astrologers might say that with me what you see is who I am...but what do they know) and a monkey (you knew it all along, didn't you?). I am also cold...I think I'm going to go make myself some hot chocolate now.

What has happened in the past year of my life? Let’s see…I finally graduated from York University with my Honours B.Sc. with a major in chemistry and a minor in physics. I nervously applied to three different teacher’s colleges and was accepted by two; I started my B.Ed. at York in August. I failed 2 road tests and passed 1, gaining my G2 and the freedom of being able to drive myself pretty much anywhere pretty much any time I wanted. I got my first job that didn’t result from any networking (and my first job that I remained at for less than a year, but I knew going into it that I only wanted it for the summer). I tried to become a runner; that didn’t work out so well. I saw my first Toronto Rock game. The first anniversary of my husband’s radiation treatment came and went without incident. I borrowed money for the first time ever for school (though through the government’s Lifelong Learning Plan, not OSAP, since OSAP turned me down again this year). I learned a little bit about how to belly dance. I celebrated my 6^th wedding anniversary with the love of my life. I attended meetings, classes, and conferences. I taught Sunday school classes. I ate, breathed, showered, played Scrabble and World of Warcraft and did laundry. I ate chocolate. I joined Facebook. I started on the path of the professional that will hopefully see me teaching my own classes next fall. Phew!

One of the things that has come to mind at times in this year's studies is how privileged I have been throughout my life. I really have not had many struggles or severe ones that have stood in the way of my achieving my life goals. I have been privileged with a loving and believing home to grow up in, great teachers, an educational system that met my needs, volunteer and paid experiences that taught me much and prepared me for later experiences in life, a husband who loves me dearly, enough money from my summer jobs (or, for my current year, through Martin) to put me through school without resorting to working during the school year, the societal "white privilege" I and my fellow teacher candidates learned about in our Foundations class last year (besides the privileges that come with being in the socioeconomic class I am), somehow missing out completely on any false impressions that girls can't succeed in the sciences, somehow managing to continually impress people who interview me for things like jobs and teacher's colleges even though I really don't see anything extraordinary about myself, and I'm sure there are many other factors that I have forgotten to mention. I have led a blessed life. There have been times this year (if not before) when I have asked myself if teaching really is what I want to do. I have been reassured that every teacher asks himself or herself that, especially at particular times of the year. I have been reassured that there are times when I am absolutely sure that this is what I want to do. I also try to keep in mind that as far as I can tell, God has pretty much paved me a smooth path leading right up to this time and place in my life; I really don't have any feeling that I am anywhere other than where I am supposed to be in terms of what I am doing with my life (as much as I know I am far from perfect in other areas--my character, my interactions with others, my spiritual life, my fashion sense--but that is a separate issue). Life has not been without its struggles (my husband having a brain injury in 2004 being only one of them, but the most pronounced). However, it is nice on my birthday to have some sense of contentment in the midst of the stress. To borrow a phrase from my high school vocabulary, "life is good," and it is reassuring at this junction in my life that I can feel that way. One day, the career and the house and the kids and the retirement plan will come. For now, I will be happy to be on the road that will eventually lead there.

Alright, seriously, I'm needing some hot chocolate, or maybe I'll try that decaffeinated Earl Grey tea I bought a couple shopping trips ago. I'm going to enjoy some World of Warcraft on my birthday and then I think I will actually try to get something productive done before suppertime so I can go out tonight a little more guilt-free (but we'll see how the gaming goes first ;)) :). Maybe I will also review my notes from this morning's fun workshop on fun demos that can be used to teach physics and see if I can make myself any more educational toys other than the 2 coat hanger things I came home with (my fellow MSTers will know what I'm talking about). I've never actually flown a kite on my chilly winter birthday before; perhaps the napkin kite will be my next project (the demonstrater said his took him 4.5 minutes to make, after all).

Happy end of January, everyone! Summer is a-comin'...