37.

So last Thursday I turned 37. For the past year, I have been referring to myself as 37 already, so it's like I get to be 37 twice in a row. And let's hope this time is better than the first time.

36 was not a great year for me, for reasons discussed here on this blog and other reasons not discussed here. I felt extremely run-over a lot of the year, dealing with one issue after the next, and realizing, at one point mid-winter, that I just wasn't happy. Which made me incredibly, incredibly sad. My life has all the ingredients for happiness - good job, great family, amazing friends, fun hobbies - but I just stalled out there for a while, caught in a bit of a black hole.

For the past few months, I've been working hard to crawl out. Life, I have realized, is going to constantly throw shit at you - you can declare "I'm going to have the best year EVER" or "I'm going to lighten up" - but sometimes life just doesn't let that happen for you. However, there are things you can control. And one thing I plan on controlling the hell out of is having more fun. Screw the chores, and the endless drudgery that can easily become your (my) entire life. I decided it was time to have fun - and over the past couple of months, I've been having a lot of it.

For example, on Friday, a small group of my friends met at a restaurant to surprise me for dinner - super fun. Then after that, we went down to the boat and stayed over until mid-day on Saturday. Fun. Then I went to my cousin's kids' birthday party at McDonalds....see, this is just one of those things life throws at you and you can't control. Loud. Insane. Not much fun (but the fries were good). Today we went to the Big E, which featured loads of food that was terrible for me but oh so delicious, as well as Jane's first time on a ride (!!). Awesome fun.

Now, I could have caught up on shopping and chores or gone crazy cleaning for houseguests we are having later in the week - but eff it. I didn't want to, so therefore, I didn't do it. And if they are checking for dust bunnies in the corners of my house, well that's just plain sad. (But really, I'm not friends with people who are the type to check for dust bunnies.)

Like I said, I get that life isn't always fun. TRUST ME - I get it. But my goal for 37 is to do my very best to make it as much fun as possible.

(How many times can I possibly say "fun" in one blog post?) (Don't answer that, Dwayne or Shane.)