If you had asked me ten years ago what I thought I would be doing in 2010, here is a brief list of what I might have said:
-Running an environmental nonprofit with my BFFs Leonardo Dicaprio and Edward Norton
-Trekking across the globe as a feature writer for National Geographic or other exciting travel mag
-Teaching indigent peoples sustainable agriculture practices in the Peace Corps
-Arguing the case for early childhood health intervention programs in front of some United Nations task force
-Finishing up my third doctoral program in the field of Saving the World and Generally Being Awesome
The list would not have included any of the following:
-Jumping all over the rump roast sale at Publix
-Bickering with the lady at the taco stand over how not fresh her tortillas are
-Poring over homeowners’ association rules and regulations regarding unkempt shrubbery
-Crawling around the hard concrete floor of a messy garage to see how the freaking ants are getting in
-Bustling around the kitchen, whipping up a nutritious dinner for some man to eat
And yet, in the past week or so, I have definitely done zero of the items on the first list and yet have done ALL the items on the second list. Some of them, several times. Ten years ago, I would have scoffed at the second list, probably in a smug, eye-rolly way. Yeah, I was THAT person. (Well, maybe I wouldn’t have scoffed at the bickering tortilla scenario. Because I have always loved tortillas and I have always been quite bickery. Even in my arrogant youth, I would have believed such of myself.)
So here I am now in my 30s, with a house in the ‘burbs and a spanking-new husband, wobbling through an existence that I never expected. Years spent renting furnished apartments, endlessly volunteering for worthy causes, single life-ing, and having meaningful conversations in coffee shops did not prepare me for this. Don’t get me wrong – I am very happy to be here. Me = lucky girl. But I really don’t know what I am doing most of the time.
