At 34

Its hard for me to believe that I am now 34. I use to consol myself that I was only a third of a century old with the hope I will live a century. Not a stupid thought when considering advances in health and well being. Unfortunately I have turned the tide heading directly to being half a century old in just 16 years!

A lot of things are on my mind. The top one being my employment. I am at a point where I relalize my salary will soon max out due to the nature of the non-profit industry and limitations that those with science degrees face with regards to salary, usually capping at about $52,000 a year. Having reached that point I now have to look into moving on to other opportunities. The jobs I am looking to fill require more education in different areas of study. I now need to decide on a new vocation. The environmental field was supposed to be the happening industry to get involved with back in the mid-1990's. Who would have thought a political ideology of climate change denial, lies, and inaction could have such an effect but the industry has not taken off and IMHO, never will. The work will instead be after the fact and purely feats of engineering because we have to adapt apparently and not prevent. What a bad idea but I digress.

The thought of more university excites me but the second thought about the debt I will incur does not. Its necessary though as I have student debt still and a home and have not been saving for retirement. Who can with such crappy wages and expensive costs to live these days. Prices and taxes increase, wages never seem to follow suit.

I reminisced last night about past birtdays, especially childhood ones and the obligatory birthday parties. My dad cooked the same meal for me every year. Pineapple chicken and fried rice. This is no doubt the reason I still cook this meal (according to his recipe) to this day. I will be cooking it this evening to share with my hubby. If you want the recipe, contact me. Many good memories.

Anyways, I am happy and have someone in my life who makes downside of any issue look trivial. I am thankful for him and his ways. I am also thankful to be here at this point in time no matter the shit going on in the world. The beauty this planet has is worth the trials and tribulations I face.

Here's looking forward to 35!

Holidays!

That time of year is just about upon us. Here in Toronto its going to be a white Christmas, something I haven't seen for a good decade or more. I couldn't be happier. The snow storm this weekend did not keep me in, in fact, I spent more time outside than I usually do in the summer! The snow brings back a lot of good memories of growing up and spending time with family.

I have many memories of getting that perfect tree. On the second Sunday of December we would go for a "drive" to the Codroy Valley in Newfoundland outside of of my hometown where I grew up. One year we saw the perfect tree to cut down after searching for hours in vain. Unfortunately it was on someones front yard. It was absolutely perfect all around as it was growing in solitude with no other tress near it. The fact it was in someone's front yard made no difference to my dad who jumped the fence and chopped it down. It was the fastest time I saw him take an axe to a tree. It was probably not the proper thing to do but thats what makes it so memorable. I like to think that whoever owned that tree would have been happy that we thoroughly enjoyed it and we still draw on that experience at this time of the year.

Today I have a fake plastic tree only because of fire regulations. Kind of takes the fun and nostalgia out of it. No freshly cut tree smell but its better than no tree at all. The picture to the right is my tree for 2007. Nothing spectacular but what do you expect from two guys!

I ordered my Christmas ham from the butcher on Sunday. Can't wait for that smell to permeate my home. I am having a group of friends together who are all away from home and their families. My "Night of the Misfit Boys" as I usually call it. The ham well be heavily spiced and flavoured with anise, fennel seeds, onion, garlic, fennel, red wine, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. The glaze will be based on red currants. Yum! Of course their well be eggnog, mulled cider, and tons of appetizers from all over the world reflecting the different cultural backgrounds of my friends and partner.

I would love to hear what you are doing or any memories you would like to share.